Yemen peace talks postponed

The United Nations says the peace talks, which were to be held Thursday between Yemen’s political factions, have been postponed by at least a week.

UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi also said on Tuesday the talks may be held a week or more later.

“The 14th was mentioned as a date but I don’t think it’s on the table any longer,” he told a regular UN briefing in Geneva.

He said the UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is looking at a date after January 20.

In Mid-December 2015, an Ansarullah delegation and representatives of fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, began UN-brokered peace talks in Switzerland with the aim of reaching a solution to the country’s conflict. The talks ended with no major breakthrough.

A truce came into force in Yemen as the six-day talks opened, but it was repeatedly violated by the Saudi side and Hadi loyalists.

The UN envoy has suggested Geneva as the location for the new round of talks.