UN says Yemen peace talks set to resume next week

UNITED NATIONS - Reuters

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The United Nations on Sept. 10 said peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Yemen are set to resume next week in the region and urged all parties to participate "in good faith." 

Saudi Arabia and Arab allies intervened in March to try to restore Yemen's president to power and roll back the Iranian-allied Houthi militia. The war has brought the country to the brink of famine and peace talks have yet to end the fighting. 

A U.N. press official said U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's special envoy on Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, welcomed the commitment of Yemen's government, the Houthis and Yemen's General People's Congress to join the talks, which will take place in the region next week. 

Officials in the General People's Congress and from the Houthis said the talks would take place in Oman. 

"The special envoy applauds the decision of Yemeni President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi and other Yemeni parties to attend the talks," the statement said. 

"He urges the participants in the talks to engage constructively and in good faith, recognizing the need for a rapid end to the violence which has brought intolerable levels of suffering to the Yemeni people," it added. 

About 20 million people or 80 percent of the population, are estimated to be going hungry. The United Nations warned last month that Yemen was on the brink of famine.