Sep 2, 2018

Yemen's warring parties will not meet face-to-face at a UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva this week which will likely focus on a prisoner exchange deal, government officials said Sunday.

The United Nations has invited Yemen's government and the Iran-backed Huthi rebels to Geneva for talks from Thursday to Sunday.

Envoy Martin Griffiths has said the talks are aimed at charting a path forward to revive UN-backed negotiations which broke down in 2016.

Government officials say the talks will likely focus on a prisoner exchange deal and the fate of embattled Hodeida, the rebel-held port city that is now the frontline of the Yemen war.

Yemen's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani told AFP the meetings "will not be face-to-face and depend on how well the UN envoy manages the two sides".