Yemen Peace Talks in Kuwait: Update on Yemen Peace Talks from the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen, 1 May 2016

Yemen Peace Talks in Kuwait: Update on Yemen Peace Talks from the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen 1 May 2016 May 1, 2016 Kuwait - Despite the positive atmosphere, which prevailed during the past few days, the delegation of the Government of Yemen suspended its participation in the plenary sessions of the Yemeni Peace Talks because of reports received from Amran, Yemen.

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said: “We understand the reasons that lead to this decision; however we urge all the parties to engage in good faith and demonstrate wisdom in their participation in the talks, Yemenis are counting on them. We believe that all difficult issues should be discussed at the negotiating table in a transparent manner, in order to reach a comprehensive agreement which will put an end to this kind of incidents. We are not underestimating the importance of what happened or what is happening. However, we reiterate that the only path in front of us is that of a peaceful dialogue, the full adherence to the UN Security Council Resolutions, the road map drawn by the Gulf Initiative and its implementation mechanism, and the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference (NDC). We are in constant contact with the De-escalation and Coordination Committee (DCC) and through it to the local committees to investigate and halt all breaches of the Cessation of Hostilities.”

After communicating extensively with the Government of Yemen delegation and meeting the leaders of Ansar Allah and the General People's Congress delegation this afternoon, the Special Envoy confirmed that he had received assurances from the parties regarding their commitment to resolve the outstanding issues without convening joint sessions.

UN political experts are currently reviewing the documents presented by the two delegations in order to identify common ground between them. The UN hopes to resume the talks and build on the tangible progress achieved during the past two days.

The UN Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, called the Emir of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in order to thank him for Kuwait’s constant support to the UN in the Middle East and for hosting the Yemeni Peace Talks.