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Yemen Reconciliation Talks in Geneva Extended to Saturday

© AP Photo / Amr Abdallah DalshYemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin - Sputnik International
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Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said that Yemen peace talks were extended to Saturday.

A man searches for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 12, 2015 - Sputnik International
Yemen Airstrikes, Clashes Kill at Least 50 Civilians in Five Days
GENEVA (Sputnik) — Yemen peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva have been extended to Saturday, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said Wednesday.

"We have made a decision to continue talks until Saturday," Yassin told reporters.

The UN-brokered session kicked off on Monday without the Shiite Houthi movement's participation, and was initially expected to wrap up on Wednesday.

The Houthis, whose positions have been subject to Saudi-led coalition airstrikes since late March, were held up in Djibouti in what they described as Riyadh's attempt to torpedo negotiations.

Their delegation eventually arrived in Geneva on Tuesday.

A guard sits on the rubble of the house of Brigadier Fouad al-Emad, an army commander loyal to the Houthis, after air strikes destroyed it in Sanaa, Yemen June 15, 2015 - Sputnik International
Yemen Ceasefire Requires Houthi Withdrawal, Prisoner Release - Official
Neither the Houthi delegates, nor President-in-exile Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi's envoys are willing to engage in dialogue, with UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, serving as their intermediary.

Yemen has been in a state of political and military turmoil since late 2014, when the country's leading rebel group at the time began seizing territory, culminating in the capture of the capital of Sanaa in January.

The death toll from the Arab coalition's air campaign in the country has led to 1,412 civilian deaths, the UN humanitarian office announced on Tuesday. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week an estimated 80 percent of Yemen's population, over 21 million, is in need of humanitarian assistance.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a two-month ceasefire on the first day of the Yemeni peace talks to mark the month of Ramadan, observed from June 18 to July 16.

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