(Reuters) – Stakeholders in the conflict in Yemen have agreed to extend the truce expiring on Tuesday by two months, the UN special envoy said, despite international pressure for a longer and broader truce to take advantage of the longest period of relative calm in the country in more than seven years.
In a statement, Hans Grundberg said that the agreement reached between the belligerents under the aegis of the United Nations included “a commitment to intensify negotiations in order to reach an extended truce as soon as possible”.
According to sources, the UN special envoy was pushing for a six-month truce, including additional measures, but both sides expressed grievances about the implementation of the existing agreement, on background of long-standing mutual distrust.
The internationally recognized government has accused the Iran-backed Houthi movement of being intransigent in talks to reopen roads.
The Houthis accuse the Saudi-led coalition that has been intervening militarily in Yemen since 2015 for not respecting agreements on fuel deliveries and flights from Sanaa, the capital, which they control.
(Report Ghaida Ghantous; French version Jean Terzian)
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