Ban calls for immediate Ramazan truce in Yemen

The UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the holy month of Ramazan should be a period for 'harmony, peace and reconciliation'

GENEVA: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for an immediate two-week humanitarian pause in Yemen to mark Ramazan as talks got underway in Geneva to try and resolve the bloody conflict.

"I hope this week starts the beginning of the end of the fighting," Ban said.

"Ramazan begins in two days," he said, stressing that the holy Muslim month should be a period for "harmony, peace and reconciliation".

"I have emphasised the importance of another humanitarian pause for two weeks," Ban said.

Ban dismissed fears that the talks would be torpedoed by the non-arrival of an Iran-backed rebel delegation in time for the talks. The team's plane was delayed in Djibouti, according to UN and diplomatic sources.

He said the delay was due to logistical reasons and added: "I am pleased to know that the other parties are on their way" and were expected to arrive later Monday.

Underscoring the need for immediate action in Yemen, he said: "The ticking clock is not a time piece, it is a time bomb."

He also called on all parties to reach agreement on a "comprehensive and lasting" ceasefire.

Meanwhile the UN has described the country's humanitarian crisis as "catastrophic", with 80 percent of the population; 20 million civilians in need of aid.

Read:Saudi-led warplanes hit 'jewel' of Islamic culture in Sanaa

Any chance of success at the first talks between the warring factions since Hadi fled Sanaa in February was "very unlikely", Yemen expert Laurent Bonnefoy said, adding: "Indeed, each side appears to be inflexible, disinclined toward compromise".

Nevertheless, the talks could offer breathing space, allowing Saudi Arabia to announce a truce that would launch more serious discussions as well as "save face by stopping an offensive they are clearly unable to win on the field," said the analyst from the International Research Centre at Sciences Po.

Read:Saudi planes strike Yemen's capital ahead of talks

On Sunday the rebels faced little resistance as they took control of Al-Hazm, the main city of Jawf province, residents and pro-government fighters said.

The city lies only 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the border with Saudi Arabia.

In Yemen's main southern city of Aden, coalition air strikes on Sunday killed 13 rebels, a military source close to them said.

Fighting raged on across several districts of Aden, residents said, accusing the rebels of firing Katyusha rockets on residential areas and destroying at least six homes.

And in Daleh farther north, six rebels and four pro-government fighters died in 24 hours of clashes, the province's deputy governor said.

The UN Security Council and Ban have called for a renewed humanitarian halt in the fighting after a five-day truce last month.

The World Health Organization said Friday that 2,584 people had been killed in fighting in Yemen as of June 7, with 11,065 wounded.