UAE hopes UN talks will end Yemen misery

400 AL HOUTHI MILITANTS KILLED OR INJURED IN TWO DAYS OF SAADA BATTLES

Tomorrow’s talks in Geneva are the first public meetings between the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Al Houthis since 2016

As Yemen’s warring parties meet in Geneva tomorrow for a new round of talks, the UAE hopes that the UN-led peace process will end the suffering of the Yemeni people, caused as a result of the Iran-backed Al Houthi militia’s coup in the country.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash tweeted: “The UAE, as part of Arab coalition, welcomes peace talks which start in Geneva on Thursday. We urge all Yemeni parties to engage constructively with the UN process.”

Gargash also heaped praise on UN envoy Martin Griffiths. “His enthusiasm & drive made these talks possible. Coalition’s use of legitimate military force [was] always intended to support political solution & UNSC Resolution 2216. Long way to go. But Geneva can bring outcome nearer.”

The Geneva talks are the first public meetings between the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Al Houthis since 2016, when 108 days of negotiations in Kuwait failed to broker a power-sharing deal. They will likely focus on a prisoner exchange deal and the fate of embattled Hodeida, the Al Houthi-occupied port city at the frontline of the war.

The UAE spends more on direct emergency humanitarian aid to Yemen than any country, according to the Financial Tracking Services.

Since the beginning of this year, the UAE provided Dh3.75 billion to Yemen.

Meanwhile, several Al Houthi militiamen and allied Iranian advisers were killed this week by the Yemeni government forces in a stronghold of the militants, a military source said yesterday.

Around 400 Al Houthis were killed or injured during battles in the mountainous district of Maran in the northern province of Saada over the past two days, the source told news portal September Net, which is linked to the Yemeni Defence Ministry.

Dozens of Al Houthi fighters and allied Iranian advisers have been killed this week by the Yemeni government forces in a stronghold of the militiamen, a military source said yesterday.

Around 400 Al Houthis had been killed or injured during battles in the mountainous district of Maran in the northern province of Saada over the past two days, the source told news portal September Net linked to the Yemeni Defence Ministry.

Last month, the government forces, backed by an Arab coalition, unleashed an operation dubbed “Cutting the Snake’s Head” in Saada near the border with Saudi Arabia.

Government loyalists have since recaptured territory in Maran, where the leader of the Iran-allied militia Abdul Malek Al Houthi is believed to be hiding.

Al Houthi militias have launched five attacks in the past two days in a desperate attempt to regain their lost positions, but have been pushed back, the source told September Net.

Al Houthi fatalities in the fight included Ali Mohammad Shaikh, the chief of the socalled Maran Battalion.

A number of Iranian military advisers, and militiamen from Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group were also killed and their bodies transported hospital.

Maran in the south-west part of Saada is symbolically important for Al Houthis. Abdul Malek’s brother, Hussain, was killed by the Yemeni army in a Maran cave in 2004. to

Military escalation

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Al Houthis have repeatedly used Saada as the launch pad to fire missiles into Saudi Arabia, which is leading the Arab coalition fighting the Iran-aligned extremists. The military escalation comes in the run-up to UN-brokered talks due to open in Geneva tomorrow.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash said in a tweet that “Yemen’s Asharq Al Awsat.

“If Al Houthis take a step in the direction of confidence building, there will be a hope for continuing consultation and negotiating for fulfilling peace as well as ending the coup and Iran’s interference in the Yemeni affairs,” he added.

The Geneva talks cap a flurry of meetings that UN envoy Martin Griffiths recently held with Yemen’s warring sides in an attempt to restart the country’s long-stalled peace process.