NEW YORK: Ould Cheikh Ahmed, UN’s special envoy for Yemen, said he was beginning preparations to hold negotiations to end the crisis in Yemen.

He told the Security Council that he would begin working immediately with the government, Houthis and other stakeholders to determine an agenda, a format and a date for the upcoming talks, which he said would be announced soon.

He called on all parties to negotiate “with no preconditions and in good faith.”

The emissary said that the Houthi rebels and backers of former president Ali Abdallah Saleh had “clearly committed” to carrying out the Security Council resolution, 2216, that calls for a negotiated withdrawal by the rebels “from Yemen’s key cities and a surrender of all heavy weapons to the state.”