UN envoy: Parties in Yemen had been 'very close' to political deal before violence exploded
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The U.N.'s outgoing special envoy to Yemen says the parties there had been "very close" to reaching a political agreement before the current violence and that the main sticking point had been who would lead the country.
Jamal Benomar also told reporters that a new targeted arms embargo could "inadvertently restrict the flow of much-needed commercial goods and humanitarian assistance" to the Arab world's poorest country.
Benomar spoke just after his final briefing to the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors Monday.
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The envoy says thousands of people, many of them civilians, have been killed in the chaos of an Iran-backed rebel uprising and Saudi-led airstrikes that seek to turn them back.
Benomar warns that the conflict is "becoming a confrontation with competing local and regional agendas."