ADEN - A delegation of Yemen's internationally recognized government decided on Sunday to suspend its participation in the Kuwait-based peace talks with the Shiite Houthi group, citing cease-fire breaches, well-informed sources said.
Yemen's Foreign Minister Abdul-Malik Mekhlafi, who heads the government delegation to the talks, has officially informed UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of the decision, the sources, close to Yemen's Saudi Arabia-based government, told Xinhua.
The cease-fire came into force on April 10 and was supposed to pave the way for the Kuwait peace talks, but both warring sides have complained of violations by each other, along with continuing heavy shelling and airstrikes.
On Saturday, fighters of the Shiite Houthi group stormed a key military base allied with Yemen's legitimate government in the country's northern province of Amran and seized heavy weapons.
A pro-government journalist told Xinhua that Kuwait's foreign minister and other GCC officials held a meeting with the Yemeni delegation in a bid to bring them back to the negotiations table with the Houthis.
The delegation will remain in Kuwait for consultations with the UN envoy, not with Houthis, the Kuwait-based journalist told Xinhua over phone.(Xinhua)