Saudi backs Yemen talks in Geneva

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Saudi backs Yemen talks in Geneva
His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, at the Arab and South American Summit in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Riyadh - Ould Cheikh Ahmed said last week that he was "very optimistic" negotiations would start between November 10 and 15.

By Agencies

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Published: Thu 12 Nov 2015, 9:42 PM

Last updated: Fri 13 Nov 2015, 9:14 AM

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir voiced support on Wednesday for peace talks on Yemen's conflict which the United Nations says will take place this month in Geneva.
"We hope they will be successful," Al Jubeir told reporters after a summit of Arab and South American countries in Riyadh. "We support these negotiations and hope they will achieve peace, security and stability in Yemen," he said.
Addressing the summit late on Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that his special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, "intends to convene a new round of peace consultations in Switzerland... this month".
He did not give a specific date but said both the Yemeni government and the Houthis have committed to attend.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed said last week that he was "very optimistic" negotiations would start between November 10 and 15.
But on Monday in the Saudi capital, Yemen's Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said the Houthis' recapture on the weekend of positions in southern Yemen shows they are "not serious" about the peace talks.
Qatar said on Wednesday that one of its soldiers fighting with a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has been killed - Qatar's first reported casualty in the conflict. Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah announced the death on Twitter, without saying how or when the soldier was killed.
The state-run Qatar News Agency identified the soldier as Mohammed Hamed Suleiman.
Meanwhile, pro-government forces on Wednesday killed 13 rebel fighters in an ambush in Yemen's south after the insurgents took back several positions in the area, a military source said.

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