Envoy presses to hold talks

SANAA, Yemen — The U.N. special envoy to Yemen sought to downplay the significance of the failure of peace talks to start, saying Saturday that he would head back to Yemen and neighboring Oman “within days” to try and agree on a new date.

A delegation of the internationally recognized government arrived in Geneva for the talks, which were supposed to start Thursday, but their war rivals — Iranian-backed rebels known as the Houthis — did not, arguing they could not go because they did not have guarantees for their safe return.

Addressing a news conference in Geneva, Martin Griffiths declined to blame either side for the failure to start the talks, saying apportioning blame would not help Yemen. He insisted that the “consultation” — the term used by the U.N. to refer to the talks — had begun when he and his team held three days of talks with the government delegation. The results of these talks, he said, would be relayed to Houthi representatives in Oman and Yemen.

“We will have similar consultations with Ansar Allah (the Houthis’ formal name) . ... We will discuss with them the fruits of the discussions we’ve had here.”

Addressing a news conference that followed Griffith’s, Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said the envoy’s comments sought to “appease and find excuses” for the Houthis.

Yemen has been locked in a ruinous war pitting the Saudiled coalition backing the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against the Houthis since March 2015. At least 10,000 people have been killed.