World
21:19, 30-Nov-2018
Houthis ready for peace talks, but ask UN for security guarantees
Updated
20:17, 03-Dec-2018
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Yemen's Houthis rebels said on Thursday that they will attend the United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Sweden next week but demanded that their safe exit and return guaranteed.
"I think that the national [Houthi] delegation will be in Sweden, God willing, on December 3 if guarantees remain to ensure they can depart and return," Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, the head of the Houthi's supreme revolutionary committee said on Thursday.
A representative of the Houthis organization, Fadl Abu Talib, cited by Russian media Sputnik, demanded the UN to provide the aircraft, issue the permit for its departure and the delegation's security.
Talib further noted that the prospective talks on Yemen in Sweden would last 7-10 days.
Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, head of the Houthi's Supreme Revolutionary Committee, gestures while attending a rally in Sanaa, September 20, 2018. /VCG Photo
Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, head of the Houthi's Supreme Revolutionary Committee, gestures while attending a rally in Sanaa, September 20, 2018. /VCG Photo
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television channel reported on Thursday that the delegation of Yemen's Saudi and the UAE-backed government would arrive for the summit after Houthis showed up first.
The summit, if takes place, would be the first of its kind since 2016. In September this year, Houthis did not show up for peace talks organized in Geneva, saying the UN had failed to meet the group's demands.
Earlier this month, the Houthis have expressed interest in handing some control of the key Yemeni port of Hudaydah to the UN, an initiative considered as potentially having a positive impact on the upcoming peace talks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Wednesday, the United Nations is working hard to ensure the start of meaningful peace talks in Yemen before the end of the year.