UN Official Commends Parties To Yemen Peace Talks In Sweden For Constructive Participation

The Yemeni government and the Houthis have had constructive discussions and made several settlement proposals during their ongoing consultations on the country's peace process in Sweden, a UN official told reporters on Friday.

STOCKHOLM (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2018) The Yemeni government and the Houthis have had constructive discussions and made several settlement proposals during their ongoing consultations on the country's peace process in Sweden, a UN official told reporters on Friday.

"Both delegations are very constructive. [Discussion] was mostly focused on humanitarian issues today. They submitted a few proposals to us," the official said.

The official added that the proposals were being discussed and presented to both sides.

The Friday consultations focused on the agreement on release of detainees and the military confrontation in the southwestern city of Taiz, among other issues, according to the UN official.

"We discussed a few confidence building measures ... the prisoners ... We had a discussion on Taiz, on the economy and on Sanaa airport," the official said.

The two delegations arrived in Sweden on Wednesday. The crisis settlement talks began on Thursday in Rimbo, a town north of Stockholm, and are expected to last through December 14.

Yemen has been ravaged by almost four years of war between an internationally backed government, aided by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthi rebels that has pushed half the country's population to the brink of starvation. An attempt to begin formal negotiations failed in September after Houthis said they were barred from leaving the country.