KUWAIT/ADEN – Yemen’s peace talks in Kuwait continued on Saturday and warring parties held a new session under pressure to firm up a fragile ceasefire that went into effect on April 11.
 The government delegation on Saturday said it would only meet U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad and not sit directly with the Houthis, the source said. However, later on Saturday Ould Cheikh Ahmad said the sides had agreed to appoint delegates to oversee the ceasefire process, a small step forward.
Ceasefire documents shown to Reuters by the Saudi-led coalition showed agreements for each of Yemen’s provinces where fighting was taking place signed by representatives of each side, who had formed committees to monitor the truce.
 The war in Yemen pits a collection of local forces and army remnants backed by the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and a Saudi-led Arab coalition against the Houthis and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Representatives gathered in Kuwait on Thursday to begin peace talks after agreeing a ceasefire across the country. The United Nations, which has convened the talks, says around 6,000 people have died in the conflict, half of them civilians.
However, as talks moved into a third day disputes continued over both the agenda and accusations from the government that the Houthis and Saleh’s forces had breached the truce in the city of Taiz, a source from Hadi’s government said.
The government wants the Houthis and Saleh’s forces to release prisoners, withdraw from cities and hand over weapons before discussing a solution to the political disagreements. The Houthis and its allies want coalition air missions to stop and a unity government to be formed before disarmament talks.
Fighting in Yemen has been going on since a Saudi-led coalition launched a military offensive last year against Iran-backed Houthi, who had seized the capital and much of the rest of the country.
The conflict has stoked tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which has been smuggling weapons to the Houthi forces.
Previous UN-sponsored peace efforts failed to make any headway, and the last ceasefire in December was repeatedly violated and eventually abandoned by the Arab coalition on January 2.
But the UN envoy said the latest truce and negotiations offered a unique chance to end the violence.
UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which is seen as a basis for any peace plan, states that the Houthis must withdraw from seized territories and disarm before talks can progress.

Source: News Agencies, 24 April 2016