Yemen peace talks set for Dec. 15 in Switzerland - U.N. envoy

United Nations envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (L) meets with Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Yemen's southern port city of Aden December 5, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

GENEVA (Reuters) - Peace talks between Yemen's warring sides will open in Switzerland on Dec. 15 to try to end the nine-month conflict, the United Nations envoy said on Monday. U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed called on all sides to the war between the exiled government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition carrying out air strikes on Yemen, and Houthi rebels to observe a humanitarian ceasefire from that date so as to create a "conducive environment" for the negotiations. He also condemned the killing in a car bombing on Sunday of the governor of Aden, saying it "illustrates the dangers Yemen will be facing if we don't go quickly to the negotiating table". (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Andrew Heavens)