Expectations low as Yemen’s warring parties meet for talks

A Houthi delegation arrived in Stockholm late on Tuesday for discussions that seek to ease Yemen’s worsening humanitarian crisis

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A severely malnourished boy rests on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Centre, Hajjah, Yemen. Envoys from Yemen’s warring parties are headed to Sweden for another round of peace talks to stop the three-year-old war, but with few incentives to compromise, expectations are low for little more than improving a faltering de-escalation. Photo: AP Photo/Hani Mohammed

Published: 9:30pm, 5 Dec 2018Updated: 9:30pm, 5 Dec 2018

Yemen’s warring parties will meet in Sweden this week for another attempt at talks aimed at halting their catastrophic three-year-old war, but there are few incentives for major compromises, and the focus is likely to be on firming up a shaky de-escalation.

UN officials say they do not expect rapid progress toward a political settlement, but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemen’s worsening humanitarian crisis.

Both the internationally-recognised government, which is backed by a US-sponsored and Saudi-led coalition, and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels say they are striving for peace. A Houthi delegation arrived in Stockholm late Tuesday, accompanied by UN envoy Martin Griffiths. The government delegation and the head of the rebel delegation were heading to Sweden on Wednesday.

Confidence-building measures before the talks included a prisoner swap and the evacuation of wounded rebels for medical treatment. The release of funds from abroad by Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to pay state employees in rebel-held territory is also in the works.

Police cars stand in front of Johannesberg Castle in Rimbo, 50km north of Stockholm, Sweden, on December 5, 2018, where peace talks on Yemen are expected to take place. - Yemeni government representatives were expected to join a rebel delegation in Sweden for high-stakes peace talks aimed at ending four years of devastating war. Photo: AFP

Yemeni scholar Hisham Al-Omeisy, who has written extensively about the conflict, said the talks would focus on “de-escalation and starting the political process.”