Yemen peace talks will begin in Geneva on May 28: UN

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says peace talks aimed at ending the crisis in Yemen will begin in the Swiss city of Geneva on May 28.

Talking to reporters on Wednesday following a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting in New York, Ban expressed hope that the UN-sponsored talks would “restore momentum towards a Yemeni-led political transition process” through an “inclusive, negotiated political settlement.”

The UN chief also called on all parties to take part in the talks “without pre-conditions.”

UNSC President Raimonda Murmokaite also said that the body under his watch emphasizes that “UN-brokered inclusive political dialogue must be a Yemeni-led process.”

“The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their call on all Yemeni parties to attend these talks and engage without preconditions and in good faith, including by resolving their differences through dialog and consultations, rejecting acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refraining from provocation,” Murmokaite said.

Khaled Alyemany, the UN ambassador appointed under the administration of fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi said a high-level delegation will be sent to the talks by Hadi.

In a televised speech on Wednesday, the leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said talks are the “only solution” to the conflict in his country.

He also condemned the “brutal and barbarous aggression” by Saudi Arabia against Yemen and called it a crime targeting the infrastructures of the country.

The Ansarullah movement had, however, slammed the recent talks on Yemen held in Saudi Arabia, saying it would only engage in dialog in Yemen or in a neutral country. The group said the negotiations, whose last session was held on Tuesday, did not represent the Yemeni population.

In a Monday statement, the Ansarullah movement insisted that Iran must participate in the UN-sponsored talks in Switzerland.

The developments come as Saudi Arabia counties its military aggression against Yemen.

The Saudi military campaign started on March 26 without a UN mandate in a bid to restore power to Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Over 1,800 people have been killed and 7,330 injured in the conflict in Yemen since March 19, according to the UN.