Next round of Yemen talks could be in Amman: rebels

SANAA: A second round of negotiations between Yemen's government and Huthi rebels could be hosted "soon" in Jordanian capital Amman, a rebel leader said Sunday after meeting the UN envoy. Talks on Yemen's failed economy "could take place soon in Amman or by video conference, which I discussed with the UN envoy", Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, head of the rebel Higher Revolutionary Committee, told AFP in Sanaa. One month after hard-won peace talks on the Yemen conflict, the United Nations faces an uphill battle as it pushes to ensure the warring parties make good on a shaky truce deal. UN envoy Martin Griffiths, who brokered the breakthrough last month in Sweden, returned to Yemen Saturday with a plan to expedite measures agreed between the government and Huthi rebels. Key among them is the redeployment of rival forces from Hodeida, the Red Sea port city crucial for aid and food imports. Griffiths, scheduled to see Yemeni government officials in Saudi capital Riyadh after meeting the rebels, hopes to bring the warring sides together later this month to follow up on progress made at December's talks.