Houthis 'agree' to attend Geneva conference on Yemen

A planned UN conference in Geneva aiming to bring together Yemen's warring parties looks closer to becoming a reality, after a leading member of the Houthi group, which has taken over large parts of the country in an alliance with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said that they would attend.

“We accepted the invitation of the United Nations to go to the negotiating table in Geneva without preconditions,” Daifallah al-Shami told AFP.

The conference, which was initially set for May 28, is now planned for June 14.

Representatives of the Yemeni government-in-exile, based in the Saudi capital Riyadh, also appear to have indicated that they are willing to attend.

However, despite the diplomatic efforts of the UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and US officials holding talks in Oman, the road to Geneva may still be difficult.

Shami said that his group would “not accept conditions” from other parties, an indication that they would not agree to pull back from the areas they have seized, something that the exiled government of President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi has demanded.

Also, the ongoing negotiations have not led to a let up in the fighting, with the Houthi-Saleh forces continuing to fight for major cities such as Aden and Taiz, and the Saudi-led coalition continuing its airstrikes, which began on March 26, and its debilitating blockade on the country.

Airstrikes on Wednesday hit targets around Sanaa, killing at least three people and wounding 11, as well as striking in other parts of the country. The airstrikes returned on Thursday.

Aden, where local, predominantly secessionist, fighters are battling the Houthi-Saleh forces, saw 32 Houthis killed, according to local sources on the ground.

The fighting in Yemen, which has been particularly violent since the Houthis forced the government into exile in February, has killed more than 2000 people, forced half a million from their homes, and left 80 percent of Yemen's population in need of aid.