Kuwait City // UN-brokered peace talks to end 13 months of conflict in Yemen opened in Kuwait City on Thursday after a rebel delegation arrived following a three-day delay.
The talks group representatives of Yemen’s government, a rebel Shiite Houthi delegation and their allies from former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s party, along with UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Sabah opened the meeting by hailing the talks as “a historic opportunity” to end the bloodshed.
“War will only lead to more devastation, losses and displacement of people,” he said.
Mr Cheikh Ahmed appealed to the warring parties to work to reach a comprehensive and durable peace accord.
“Today, you have one of two options; a secure nation that guarantees an honourable life or the ruins of a nation,” he said.
More than 6,400 people have been killed and almost 2.8 million displaced since a Saudi-led coalition began operations in March last year against the Iran-backed rebels who have seized swathes of territory, including the capital Sanaa.
Talks were initially scheduled to start on Monday but were delayed after the rebels failed to show up in protest at what they described as Saudi violations of a ceasefire, in effect since April 11
The United Nations has been pushing the talks that it hopes will end a conflict that has been exploited by extremist groups and sent tensions between Shiite Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbours soaring. Previous attempts to negotiate a peace agreement have failed.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government led by president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi is demanding the Houthis abide by a Security Council resolution calling for a political process and for the rebels to withdraw from cities they seized and surrender their weapons.
Yemeni sources close to the talks say the insurgents are demanding the lifting of UN sanctions against Mr Saleh and Houthi leaders.
On Thursday, Turkey said it had frozen assets of Mr Saleh and his son in line with Security Council sanctions.
All assets belonging to Mr Saleh and his son Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh in Turkish banks and other financial institutions “are frozen until February 26, 2017”, according to an announcement in the government gazette.
Mr Saleh amassed between US$32 billion and $60bn through corruption and stashed assets in at least 20 countries during his 33 years in power, a UN report released last year found.
The council imposed sanctions on Mr Saleh in 2014, two years after he was forced out of power under a Gulf-sponsored deal and blacklisted for obstructing peace in Yemen, notably for backing the Houthi militias that seized power in Sanaa.
* Agence France-Presse