RIMBO, SWEDEN: A truce between warring parties in Yemen is unlikely from the round of hard-won UN talks underway between the government and rival rebels, a government representative said Tuesday.
“This has been proposed as part of the general framework, and this is what we came to make progress on: a full, complete ceasefire. But I think we will be unable to achieve this progress in this round,” Yemeni government delegate Askar Zaeel told AFP.
“This is a round of talks to prepare for that.”
Nearly four years into a war that has pushed 14 million Yemenis to the brink of mass starvation, the government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Huthi rebels have been in talks since Thursday in the rural town of Rimbo in Sweden.
While the talks did not set out to broker an official ceasefire, both parties have come under pressure to find a truce, particularly for two cities at the heart of intense battles.
Among the issues under discussion are potential humanitarian corridors, the reopening of the defunct Sanaa international airport, and Hodeida, the rebel-held city at the heart of an ongoing government offensive.
Yemen’s third largest city of Taiz, held by the government but surrounded by rebels, is also at the centre of debate.
The two delegations exchanged the names of a combined total of more than 15,000 prisoners and detainees on Monday, in the largest swap between the government and rebels since the outbreak of the war.
