Expert Talks on UN Draft Resolution on Yemen Planned for Tuesday - Kuwaiti Representative

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2018) The UN Security Council draft resolution on Yemen will be discussed at the level of experts later on Tuesday, Mansour Otaibi, Kuwaiti permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters on Tuesday.

The draft resolution, urging Yemeni warring parties to resume talks to end their conflict and take steps promptly to resolve the crisis, was circulated to UN Security Council members on Monday.

"It will be discussed at the level of experts on Tuesday morning," Otaibi said, specifying that the UN Security Council was unlikely to be able to discuss the draft resolution this week.

Otaibi added that the draft resolution had been already altered.

"By the way, this is already the second version of the draft resolution, as changes have been introduced to the first version," he said.

According to Otaibi, the second version of the draft document raises certain questions.

"We must discuss the draft resolution, we have concerns, and the others have as well," he said.

Yemen has been gripped by a civil war between President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi's government and the Shiite Houthi movement since 2015. The government is backed by the Saudi-led coalition that has been carrying out military operations targeting areas controlled by the Houthis since March 2015.

In September, the United Nations attempted to hold peace talks between Yemen's warring parties in Geneva, but the Houthi rebels said they were prevented from leaving Yemen, while the Saudi-led coalition denied these allegations.