Yemeni FM: Kerry's remarks on truce don’t concern us

By Zakaria al-Kamaali

SANAA

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdul-Malik al-Mikhlafi said Tuesday that remarks made by his U.S. counterpart, John Kerry, on a proposed ceasefire and the formation of a national unity government "don’t concern the legitimate government of Yemen".

"These remarks are an attempt to thwart peace efforts by reaching an agreement with the [Houthi] rebels and circumventing the legitimate government," al-Mikhlafi said via Twitter.

Earlier Tuesday, Kerry said in a press statement that the Houthis and a Saudi-led military coalition had "agreed to a cessation-of-hostilities in Yemen to start on Nov. 17".

Kerry, speaking at the end of his visit to the UAE, also said Yemen’s warring rivals had agreed to begin working on a unity government by the end of this year.

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Shia Houthi group overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated in March of last year when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a major air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled Saudi-backed government.

Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in the conflict to date -- more than half of them civilians -- while another three million are believed to have been displaced.