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_9ccc26a8-4ea1-41be-a072-aae5c1af3410.jpg "Geneva talks: Ridiculously big Houthi panel a nonstarter")
Geneva talks: Ridiculously big Houthi panel a nonstarter
(MENAFN- Arab News) GENEVA: The United Nations on Wednesday scrambled to get Yemen peace talks in Geneva moving with both the legitimate government and the Iran-backed Yemeni rebels accusing each other of trying to sabotage the process.
The third day of the high stakes talks launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with an appeal for a badly-needed two-week humanitarian truce also hit a snag over an inflated rebel presence.
'The only positive point so far is that the negotiations are continuing and that no delegation has slammed the door' said a Western diplomat following the talks.
The UN special envoy for Yemen Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed meanwhile was trying to get the rebels to whittle down their team from 22 to the pre-agreed 10.
'We believe that in order to commence the numbers need to be reduced and there has to be a balance between the two teams' he said.
He also repeated that the warring sides had to bend down.
'In a situation like this the Yemenis need to talk among themselves not with the United Nations' he said.
'As long as we have not reached the point where the Yemenis agree together this will be very difficult.'
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said the talks had 'made no progress.'
He said: 'We are demanding their retreat from all the provinces to conclude a cease-fire or truce in keeping with Resolution 2216 of the Security Council.'
The US said Tuesday that the UN talks were 'the best way forward for Yemenis' with a political solution 'the only way to resolve the crisis.'
The third day of the high stakes talks launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with an appeal for a badly-needed two-week humanitarian truce also hit a snag over an inflated rebel presence.
'The only positive point so far is that the negotiations are continuing and that no delegation has slammed the door' said a Western diplomat following the talks.
The UN special envoy for Yemen Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed meanwhile was trying to get the rebels to whittle down their team from 22 to the pre-agreed 10.
'We believe that in order to commence the numbers need to be reduced and there has to be a balance between the two teams' he said.
He also repeated that the warring sides had to bend down.
'In a situation like this the Yemenis need to talk among themselves not with the United Nations' he said.
'As long as we have not reached the point where the Yemenis agree together this will be very difficult.'
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said the talks had 'made no progress.'
He said: 'We are demanding their retreat from all the provinces to conclude a cease-fire or truce in keeping with Resolution 2216 of the Security Council.'
The US said Tuesday that the UN talks were 'the best way forward for Yemenis' with a political solution 'the only way to resolve the crisis.'
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