The Yemeni legitimate government delegation to UN talks which kickstarted in Sweden on Thursday, called for a complete withdrawal of the Houthi militias from the port city of Hodeidah.

On Wednesday, the United Nations, which sponsors the consultations, ruled out direct meetings between the two delegations in the first phase of the negotiations, but it hopes the talks will be successful in ending the Yemeni crisis.

A United Nations source said the two sides were unlikely to meet directly in the talks, and Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy to Yemen, and Hu and his team will make shuttle trips in the consultations, which will be the first since 2016.

The Peace talks between the Yemeni legitimate government representatives and the Houthi militias’ delegation began on Thursday in Stockholm, the UN announced.

“The (UN special envoy) would like to announce the restart of the intra-Yemeni political process in Sweden on 6 December 2018,” UN envoy Martin Griffiths’ office tweeted.

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:54 - GMT 06:54