U.N. plans Yemen peace talks soon, warns of aid obstruction

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations envoy to Yemen was arranging face-to-face negotiations between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels but warned that a disastrous humanitarian situation has left most of the country in dire need. Without naming specific parties to the conflict, U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that it had been characterized by "blatant disregard for the laws of war." At least 5,400 people have been killed in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula and the United Nations says the humanitarian situation, exacerbated by a Saudi blockade of Yemen's ports, grows worse every day. Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military intervention since March to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government and fend off what it sees as creeping Iranian influence. Ould Cheikh Ahmed told the Security Council Hadi agreed to send a delegation to peace talks that will include the Iranian-backed Houthis. "I will start working immediately with the government of Yemen, the Houthis and other stakeholders to agree on the agenda, date and format for these talks," he said. "I hope that these first face-to-face talks will chart a course towards a rapid end to the fighting, the resumption of political dialogue, and Yemen's return to an orderly and peaceful political transition," he said. In an interview with Reuters, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he would begin preparatory talks with the government and Houthis separately as early as Monday, adding that he expected formal talks between the sides "in the coming weeks." He added that he did not expect any side would be expected to vacate territory before the talks begin. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he wanted the talks to focus on main elements of Security Council resolution 2216 - withdrawing militias from key cities, releasing prisoners, returning heavy weapons seized from the army, improving the humanitarian situation and resuming political dialogue. Previous U.N.-sponsored peace talks faltered in June after Hadi's government demanded that the Houthis pull out of cities captured since last September as a precondition for a ceasefire. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said there were more than 21 million people in need of humanitarian aid, or 80 percent of the population, with more than 500,000 children severely malnourished. Without naming the Saudis, the envoy said a Saudi-led naval inspection regime had contributed to a "disastrous humanitarian situation." (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Grant McCool and Lisa Shumaker)