UN announces end of Yemen peace talks due to new fighting

A ceasefire which began with the peace talks on Tuesday and was set to continue for at least seven days has failed to hold.

The ceasefire committee will be headed by a Lebanese army general and consist of representatives from the Saudi-backed government of Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and from the rival Houthi movement, which is allied to Iran. Local affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have exploited the chaos to grab land and exercise influence.

Meanwhile, a missile fired from war-torn Yemen has struck a Saudi border city, killing three civilians, the kingdom said, in yet another violation of a ceasefire aimed at helping peace talks.

Military sources said that pro-government forces attacked rebel positions in southern Shabwa province, most of which is under loyalist control.

In his communiqué, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed cited the parties’ constructive engagement in the UN-facilitated talks, but said progress was affected by numerous violations of the cessation of hostilities.

Separately, the UN-brokered peace talks between the government, the Houthis and other parties resumed today in Switzerland after a one-day boycott by the Houthis.

United Nations special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has announced a press conference in Bern at 1600 GMT Sunday concluding the talks, and is expected to announce a new round, likely starting in mid-January, according to a source close to the rebel delegation. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

By late Saturday night, the continued combat was already impacting the negotiations.

These included an agreement “in principle” to release all prisoners, he said, while acknowledging that such an exchange likely would not happen before a sustainable ceasefire had been agreed.

Both sides agreed on a negotiating framework, on setting up a joint de-escalation committee, and they worked on a package of confidence-building measures, he added. The participants spoke anonymously since they were not authorized to brief reporters.