Yemen talks offer flickering signal of hope — UN envoy
Consultations with warring parties to begin today in a Geneva hotel
Griffiths emphasised that the Geneva talks were ‘not formal negotiations,’ but said they aimed to pave the way towards bringing the parties back to the negotiating table.
The UN envoy for Yemen said yesterday that “consultations” in Geneva between the warring parties offered a “flickering signal of hope” after years of conflict.
The talks, expected to kick off today, will be the first public meetings between the government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Yemen’s Al Houthi militants since 2016, when 108 days of negotiations in Kuwait failed to broker a power-sharing deal. “The people of Yemen... are desperately in need of a signal of hope. We would like to think that the work we will do together in these next days will begin to send a flickering signal of hope to them,” UN envoy Martin Griffiths said.
The UN meanwhile announced that there would be no meetings at its European headquarters in Geneva today as previously planned.
But Griffiths said his “informal consultations” with the government side would begin immediately.
“The government of Yemen... is here already. I am looking forward to meeting their leader right after this, Foreign Minister Khaled Al Yamani,” he said at a press conference.
That meeting is expected to take place in a Geneva hotel, as are any other meetings that might happen today.
Yemen’s warring sides are due to gather in Switzerland today for a new round of UN-sponsored talks aimed at ending nearly four years of devastating strife in the country.
The internationally recognised government and Iranallied Al Houthi militia confirmed their participation in the indirect talks in Geneva.
The talks are expected to focus on humanitarian issues, including the release of prisoners held by both sides and unrestricted aid deliveries.
The government said it would participate in the talks in good faith with a team led by Foreign Minister Khalid Al Yamani.
Yemeni Vice-President Mohsen Al Ahmar had discussed with Al Yamani preparations for the Geneva consultations, Yemen’s state news agency Saba reported.
“The government enters this round with sincere intentions that give the top priority to the Yemeni people’s interests and the supreme national interests,” Al Ahmar said.
Meanwhile the Al Houthi militia said yesterday they were stranded in the capital Sana’a on the eve of the peace talks in Geneva.
Al Houthis said the United Nations had been unable to “secure authorisation” from the coalition backing the government for a plane to transport the militia delegation and wounded insurgents out of the country, according to Al Houthis’ Al Masirah TV.
In September 2014, Al Houthis overran the Yemeni capital Sana’a in a coup against the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The extremists have since seized chunks of Yemeni territory and devastated the country’s economy.
Yemenis suffering
“I hope that the coup plotters will prioritise the country’s interests and the status of the Yemeni citizens, who are suffering terribly,” Al Ahmar added.
Yemenis this week took to the streets in several areas, protesting against hardships and the plummeting of the local currency.
In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen on request from the government against Al Houthis after the militants advanced on the southern city of Aden, the temporary capital of the country after their takeover of Sana’a. ■ Jizan Mocha DJIBOUTI Saada
are backed by Iran Hezbollah , and led by SAUDI ARABIA Dhamar Taiz Ibb UN envoy overseeing shuttle diplomacy is backed by Saudi-led Arab coalition
Geneva’s talks, the fourth since Yemen’s war started, cap a flurry of meetings that UN envoy Martin Griffiths recently Marib Bayda Ataq Government headquarters Al Mukallah Legitimate government of Yemen led by held with Yemen’s warring sides in an attempt to restart the country’s long-stalled peace process.