Peace talks in sight for Yemen

The UN special envoy for Yemen said Friday he will start working immediately with the government and rebels on an agenda, date and format for peace talks.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed confirmed to the UN Security Council that Yemen's government and Houthi rebels have agreed to send delegations to the talks on ending the conflict.

He said both side accepted a Security Council resolution approved in April that requires the rebels to withdraw from all areas they control and lay down arms captured in months of fighting, though he added that the Houthis are committed to "a negotiated withdrawal from Yemen's key cities."

Cheikh Ahmed told reporters afterward that the UN will announce the location and date for the talks "very soon”.

"We certainly hope that the parties will come with no preconditions — that the parties will come ready to negotiate in good faith, and that there will be representative and ample delegations to these talks," Cheikh Ahmed said.

He cautioned that "the positions of the different sides to this conflict remain very divergent" but expressed hope that these first face-to-face talks will rapidly lead to an end to fighting and resumption of political dialogue.