Saudi-backed side sabotaged Yemen peace: Houthi leader

Yemen's Houthi leader has criticized delegates loyal to Saudi-backed former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi for abandoning UN-brokered Yemen peace talks in Kuwait.

Abdel Malek al-Houthi said Monday that his Ansarullah movement had already signed a ceasefire deal, accusing the other side of stonewalling peace efforts and not abiding by the truce.

He said a political solution to the Yemen conflict is close at hand, but the obstinacy of the invading countries is an impediment to that goal.

Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015, with internal sources putting the toll from the bloody aggression at more than 9,500.

The Saudi-backed representatives suspended their participation in the peace talks on Sunday in protest at Ansarullah's recent takeover of a military base in the  Amran province.

Houthi said Ansarullah representatives attended the talks in a bid to put an end to months of clashes in the impoverished Arab country and establish peace.

Ansarullah spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam accused the Saudi-backed side of “wasting time” and “fabricating excuses” to continue militancy in Yemen.

“Those who don’t want peace ... are the ones who create false justifications and reasons to obstruct the talks,” Abdulsalam wrote on his official Twitter account.

Airstrikes have destroyed Yemen's infrastructure and the impoverished nation is struggling to cope with shortage of food and basic medications due to the Saudi blockade of the country. 

In his speech marking the death anniversary of founding leader Sheikh Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi on Monday, Ansarullah's current leader warned Muslim nations of "intricate plots" of the US and Israel in the Middle East.

Houthi said the Israeli regime is responsible for the crises and conflicts plaguing the Middle East region.

Israel’s anti-Muslim agenda, he said, is carried out by the Zionist lobby across the globe, which poses significant threats to the international peace and tranquility.

He said Muslims should closely monitor any move that Washington, Tel Aviv and their allies make in the region.

UN bid to revive talks

The United Nations on Tuesday said its envoy met delegates of Yemen's warring parties separately in a bid to restart peace negotiations.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed met both pro-Saudi and Houthi delegations late on Monday in a bid to find a swift resolution to the dispute.

Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, who heads the Hadi delegation, told Sky News Arabia there would be no more direct or indirect talks with the Houthis until they withdrew from the military camp.

Despite the Saudi military intervention in support of Hadi launched in March last year, the Houthis and their allies still control the capital, as well as much of the northern and central mountains and Red Sea coast.

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