Yemen's Houthi rebels say they will decide Friday whether the government is serious about peace talks.
"We have no problem holding talks with the other side. We will judge
whether the Stockholm talks are serious or not tomorrow," a rebel
spokesman told an Arabic language television network.
The U.N.-sponsored talks opened Thursday in Rimbo, Sweden, north of Stockholm.
WATCH: UN Envoy: Success of Yemen Talks Depends on Warring Sides
These are the first talks between the Iranian-backed Houthi
rebels and the Saudi-supported Yemeni government since 2016. They are
aimed at moving toward a political settlement of the 4-year-old war.
U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths reported some progress after the first
full day of talks Thursday when both sides agreed on a prisoner swap.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom and U.N.
envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths attend the opening press conference on
U.N.-sponsored peace talks for Yemen at Johannesberg castle, in Rimbo,
Sweden, Dec. 6, 2018.
"I'm also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the
exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained,
and individuals put under house arrest," Griffiths said. "It will allow
thousands of families to be reunited and it is product of very
effective, active work from both delegations."
Griffiths urged both sides to "work in good faith ... to deliver a message of peace."
But one of the main hurdles will be the port city of Hodeida, where nearly all food and humanitarian aid deliveries are made.
The rebels control the city. The Saudi-led coalition trying to drive
the Houthis out of Yemen say they receive Iranian-made weapons through
the port — a charge Iran denies.
Much of the recent fighting has been in and around the city. The
Yemeni government is demanding the rebels withdraw. They refuse.
U.N. and humanitarian groups say a dangerous disruption of food and
medical deliveries through the port will make a dire humanitarian
situation even worse.
Nearly 80 percent of Yemeni civilians lack food, medicine, and fresh water and the entire country is on the edge of famine.
Saudi-led airstrikes against the rebels are compounding the misery —
wiping out entire neighborhoods and destroying hospitals. A Saudi
missile strike on a busload of children in August killed 40. The
coalition called the attack "a mistake."
More than 10,000 people have been killed since the fighting broke out
in 2014 when the rebels seized the capital of Sanaa, forcing the
government to flee to temporary exile in Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. Senate is considering a resolution demanding the Trump administration cut off all military aid to the Saudi coalition.
Massive public protests taking place in Hong Kong over the past week are aimed at a new extradition law, known as the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance , that would see accused criminals extradited to mainland China to face prosecution. Hongkongers feel the law could be used to legalise the kidnapping of people who express views, and act in ways, that are not popular with the Chinese government . The same law could also be used to extradite tourists and visitors to China who are arrested on suspicion of having committed these crimes. Protesters want the bill scrapped. For now, debate of the legislation has been postponed . Organisers say one million people turned out for the protests, while police estimate the number was around 240,000. Either way, it was a significant number of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population. Commentators on Twitter remarked on how well organised the protesters were. So, how did they do it? Protesters across the world are using n
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