UN pushes for renewed Yemen humanitarian pause

The 15-member council said in a unanimous statement June 2 that it was “deeply disappointed” that talks scheduled for Geneva last week were pushed back.

A diplomatic source told AFP that an announcement on a new date for the talks, possibly around June 10, was imminent.

Council members “endorsed the U.N. secretary general’s call for a further humanitarian pause in order to allow assistance to reach the Yemeni people urgently,” said the statement.

A five-day pause last month allowed aid agencies to reach civilians caught in the fighting, but UN efforts to prolong the truce failed.

“The consultations in Geneva need to happen without pre-conditions,” said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“We would also like to see an immediate cessation of hostilities but we are not in a situation where we need to see a cessation before the talks begin,” he said.

Yemen has been engulfed in turmoil since Shiite Huthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in September and advanced on the southern city of Aden, forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee into exile in Saudi Arabia.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia led a coalition in launching air strikes on Yemen to push back the Iranian-backed Houthis and restore Hadi’s authority.

Meanwhile, the United States confirmed June 2 that an American envoy has held talks in Oman with Iran-backed Yemeni rebels to convince them to attend a Geneva peace conference in mid-June.

The news of the talks came with a conference on Yemen having been scrapped just days before it was due to be held on May 28, dealing a blow to UN efforts to broker peace in a country where at least 2,000 people have been killed since March.

The meetings involved Washington’s top diplomat for the Near East, who held talks in Oman with parties involved in the Yemen conflict, “including with representatives of the Houthi”, said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.

Anne Patterson, who also travelled to Saudi Arabia for talks on the conflict, wanted to persuade actors in the conflict to take part in a proposed peace conference in Geneva, she said.

Confirmation of the talks came as the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday backed a call by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a new humanitarian pause in the fighting, saying peace talks should be held as soon as possible.

The 15-member council said in a unanimous statement they were “deeply disappointed” that the May 28 talks scheduled for Geneva were pushed back.

A diplomatic source told AFP that an announcement on a new date for the talks, possibly around June 10, was imminent.

Meanwhile, an American who was among several believed held by the Shiite Houthi rebels was freed and receiving treatment in Oman.

Pictures released by Oman’s official ONA news agency showed journalist Casey Coombs being stretchered into an ambulance with a brace around his head.