Yemen’s authorities to back ceasefire regime if talks in Kuwait fail - foreign minister

KUWAIT CITY, May 25. /TASS/. The government of Yemen will call to maintain the ceasefire regime in case of failure of the peace talks underway in Kuwait now, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi said in an interview with TASS on Wednesday. Speaking if the government has an action plan should the peace talks halt, the diplomat expressed hope that this will not happen. "Huge efforts have been made to continue the talks. A decision was made to achieve peace," he said. "In case of failure we call for maintaining ceasefire, however we do not lose hope that everything will be successful this time." Yemen’s foreign minister has accused the rebels of continuing to avoid talks, killing civilians in the country’s third largest city of Taiza and imposing the war. "Every day we submit reports on this to the special envoy," he said, adding that despite the plans of surrendering arms by the Houthi rebels they obtain the new ones. "They have captured a base in al-Amaleqa (one of the largest military bases in Yemen) and 70 tanks, 40 artillery weapons, 60 armored fighting vehicles and also firearms and ammunition there," he said. Al-Mekhlafi said in general, the rebels reject all initiatives of the international community, stressing that this creates obstacles for reaching progress. UN Security Council’s role in settlement Yemen’s foreign minister said the delegation that he leads accepts all the UN decisions and passes UN Security Council’s resolutions. He believes that the UNSC permanent member-states have huge influence on the situation and could also influence the Houthis. The minister expressed gratitude to Russia’s authorities for a clear position stated by Russian Ambassador to Yemen Vladimir Dedushkin. "This position is in the need to establish peace by implementing Security Council’s Resolution 2216 and the surrender of arms by the rebels," he said. The talks between the country’s government and the Houthi delegation in Kuwait kicked off on April 21. The only achievement at the moment is the creation of a committee on de-escalation and coordination aimed at carrying out monitoring of implementation of the ceasefire regime in Yemen that entered into force on April 11. Three working groups consisting of members of the delegations were set up that deal with issues of security, politics, prisoners and hostages. Confrontation between the country’s government forces and the rebels began in August 2014. The conflict grew into an active phase when the so-called Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia intruded in March 2015. According to the United Nations, more than 7,000 people have been killed and over 30,000 have been wounded in the Yemeni conflict. Read more