UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday (November 29th) played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough on ending Yemen's war, saying he hoped talks would start by the end of the year, AFP reported.
Earlier Thursday, the Iran-backed Houthis (Ansarallah) said they were ready to take part in negotiations that the UN had proposed for next week in Sweden.
But Guterres lowered hopes on the timing of the talks.
"I do not want to raise too much expectations, but we are working hard in order to make sure that we can start meaningful peace talks still this year," he said.
"But, as you know, there have been some setbacks," he added, pointing in part to Saudi Arabia's concerns over continued rocket attacks by the Houthis.
The Houthis had balked at attending previous peace talks planned for September in Geneva, saying the UN could not guarantee their delegation's safe return.
But Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, who heads the militia’s Higher Revolutionary Committee, sounded upbeat about talks in Sweden -- while reiterating calls for safe passage back to Sanaa.
The government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi has already said it is willing to join the negotiations in Sweden.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths held talks separately in the past few days with officials from both sides as part of efforts to lay the ground work for the peace talks.
