Yemen President Receives Updated UN Agenda on Talks With Houthis

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A United Nations special representative has provided Yemen's President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi with a corrected agenda for talks with the Houthi political opposition faction, Arabic media reported Monday.

"The main points studied by the talks’ organizers are focused on delegation members and guarantees provided by the Hadi government. At the same time… no specific guarantees by the UN are provided for, and no guarantees exist for the rebels adhering to the [UN Security Council] resolution 2216," a source told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

All sides to the Yemeni conflict have agreed to take part in the UN-backed talks, UN Yemen Resident Coordinator Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in October, with dates remaining undetermined. The UN is keen on pursuing a gradual course in organizing the talks, Cheikh Ahmed told Sputnik earlier.

President Hadi has now received Cheikh Ahmed's draft version of the corrected agenda, Asharq Al-Awsat's source said. The Yemeni president returned to the country on November 17 after an exile in Saudi Arabia, as loyalist forces continued an offensive on Shiite Houthi positions in Taiz. Speaking during Yemen's independence day on Monday, Hadi vowed to end the insurgency and regain control of the country.

Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government and the Ansar Allah (Houthi) opposition movement, who have been supported by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since late March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against Houthi positions at Hadi's request.