KUWAIT CITY (AFP) -
Yemen's
government and Iran-backed rebels have discussed the crucial issues of
military withdrawals, the handover of weapons and the restoration of
state institutions during peace talks, the UN said Thursday.
Negotiators
on Wednesday also debated the logistical details of a release of
prisoners and detainees announced a day earlier, UN envoy Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.
It was their third day of consecutive face-to-face meetings -- the longest run yet in the three-week-old talks.
"Parties
began to present their visions on the withdrawals and the handover of
weapons, especially mechanisms of withdrawal and assembling of forces,"
Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.
He did not say if the teams made any
progress on these issues, which are central to any peace settlement in
the impoverished Arab nation.
A working group focused on political
issues meanwhile discussed "specific aspects for the restoration of
state institutions and the resumption of the political dialogue," Ould
Cheikh Ahmed said.
A UN Security Council resolution has ordered
the Huthi Shiite rebels to pull out of territory they occupied in a 2014
offensive and surrender heavy arms they captured.
There has been
mounting international pressure to end the Yemen conflict, which the
United Nations estimates has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced
2.8 million since March last year.
The two sides said Tuesday
they had agreed to free half of all prisoners and detainees within 20
days, but the UN said the agreement has not been finalised.
The
Huthis and their allies loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh
seized most of Yemen in the 2014 offensive, forcing internationally
recognised President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his government to flee.
Pro-government forces, backed by Saudi air power, pushed the rebels out of five southern provinces last year.
The
Huthis however still control the capital Sanaa as well as large parts
of the country's north and west, and the Saudi-led coalition has drawn
strong criticism over heavy civilian casualties.
The rebels are
demanding the formation of a consensus transitional government to handle
the pullout and arms issues but the government delegation insists Hadi
is the legitimate head of state.
More meetings are scheduled for
Thursday. The talks follow two failed peace attempts in June and
December last year in Switzerland.
© 2016 AFP
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