UAE backs new bid for Yemen talks
COALITION DOWNS BALLISTIC MISSILES FIRED BY AL HOUTHIS AT MILITARY PARADE
The UAE, a main partner in an Arab coalition fighting Iran-allied Al Houthi militants, will support UN proposals for initiating a new round of peace talks for Yemen, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash said yesterday.
Earlier this month, a UNsponsored attempt at indirect talks between the Yemeni government and Al Houthis collapsed after the rebels failed to show up in Switzerland.
Gargash said he held “very productive discussions” on Yemen with special envoy Martin Griffiths on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meetings in New York on Tuesday. “Reaffirmed our strong support for UN-led political process after Geneva setback. Will fully support UN proposals for new talks soon,” Gargash tweeted.
Militia suffer setbacks
Days after the collapse of the Geneva attempt, Griffiths visited Oman and Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sana’a, where he met Al Houthi leaders in a fresh bid to revive the peace process. The former British diplomat did not report any breakthrough.
The Yemeni forces, supported by the Saudi-led coalition, have since stepped up military operations against Al Houthis, mainly in the coastal city of Hodeida.
The Red Sea city, controlled by Al Houthis since late 2014, is strategically important because it has a harbour, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis as most of the commercial imports and relief supplies enter through it to the country.
The coalition accuses Al Houthis of taking advantage of their control of Hodeida port to obtain weapons from Iranian patrons, as well as confiscating aid intended for Yemenis.
In recent months, the extremists have suffered military setbacks and territorial losses. Yesterday, coalition air defences intercepted and destroyed five ballistic missiles launched towards the government-controlled city of Maraib in central Yemen.
The missiles had targeted a military parade that was being staged in the city marking the anniversary of a 1962 republican revolution, the sources added.