Yemen's Warring Parties to Negotiate in Switzerland

The UN special envoy for Yemen has stated that the warring parties in Yemen have agreed to begin peace negotiations in Switzerland around mid-December, approximately one week from now, and a temporary ceasefire is expected to be established simultaneously. On Monday, December 6, a report from Aden cited Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN envoy, who noted that representatives from three conflicting groups in Yemen have expressed readiness to attend negotiations anticipated to be held outside Geneva. These groups include representatives of the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the president, on one side, and representatives of the Houthi forces in Yemen, along with an official delegation from the Yemeni People's Congress, loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, on the other side. The UN envoy stated that no timeline has been set for these negotiations, which will continue as long as necessary. He expressed confidence that a temporary ceasefire would also be established from the start of the peace talks. According to Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, all parties have had a positive approach towards the proposed ceasefire, which includes the Saudi-led coalition that has conducted airstrikes in support of Mansur Hadi. The report from France noted that Saudi Arabia's condition for accepting a ceasefire was that Mansur Hadi supports the plan. The Saudi-led coalition has been conducting attacks on positions of the Shiite Houthi militants, who are supported by Iran, for the past eight months, and the UN has made several attempts to bring the parties to the negotiating table. The first round of negotiations was held in Geneva last June but ended without results. The Houthi rebels captured the capital Sana'a in February 2015 with the help of forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, leading to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi resigning and fleeing to Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, the UN Security Council has recognized Mansur Hadi as the legitimate president of Yemen in a resolution, calling for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Houthis from major cities they have seized, an arms embargo on the Houthis, and the initiation of peace talks between the parties. Saudi Arabia and Mansur Hadi, who has recently returned to Aden, have repeatedly accused Iran of providing financial and military support to the Houthis, but Iran denies this, stating that it only supports the legitimate rights of the Houthis and Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations. Meanwhile, the crisis in Yemen and the ongoing civil war have intensified the activities of al-Qaeda-affiliated groups and the emergence of Islamic State or ISIS-affiliated groups in parts of the country. According to the UN, the civil war in Yemen has resulted in at least 5,600 deaths over the past eight months, and half of the country's population is at risk of famine.