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Yemen Peace Talks Set to End Thursday

by VOA News

   The first peace talks on Yemen in two years are scheduled to end
   Thursday, with U.N. mediators hoping to make progress on several key
   issues.

   U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will join the final day of
   talks near Stockholm to encourage both sides to keep building on what
   has been achieved so far.

   The Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Iranian-supported Houthi
   rebels have agreed on a huge prisoner swap. Reports say they are close
   to deals to reopen Sanaa's airport, and restart oil and gas exports to
   help the cash-starved country earn revenue.

   But the situation in the rebel-held port of Hodeida is still a major
   source of contention.

   Both sides have rejected an initial proposal to withdraw fighters and
   arms from the city and turn it over to a temporary U.N. administration.

   Nearly all food and humanitarian aid deliveries come through the port,
   and any hindrance in those deliveries puts more lives at risk.

   The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemeni forces says the rebels get
   Iranian arms thorough the port, a charge Iran denies.

   Coalition airstrikes against the Houthis have been widely
   indiscriminate, wiping out entire civilian neighborhoods and hospitals.

   A Saudi missile hit a busload of schoolchildren in August near Sanaa,
   killing 40. The coalition called the missile strike a "mistake."

   The U.S. Senate began to debate a measure to end U.S. support to the
   Saudi military involvement in Yemen.

   The lawmakers are not just sickened by the bloodshed and attacks
   against children. They are upset over the killing of Saudi dissident
   journalist Jamal Khashoggi, allegedly at the behest of Saudi Crown
   Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and President Donald Trump's tepid
   criticism of the Saudi government.

   Trump is unwilling to anger a major U.S. ally like Saudi Arabia. But he
   told Reuters Tuesday, "I hate to see what's going on in Yemen. But it
   takes two to tango. I'd want to see Iran pull out of Yemen."

   Both sides in the peace talks say they plan to meet again early next
   year.

   The fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni forces broke out in 2014,
   when the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa. Tens of thousands of people
   have been killed, including countless civilians.

   Many experts say the fighting is a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and
   Iran.

   The U.N. calls Yemen the world's worst humanitarian disaster. With the
   county on the brink of famine, nearly 80 percent of the population lack
   enough food, clean water and proper medical care.