Yemen ready for talks with Al Houthis
ALL PEACE EFFORTS WELCOME, GOVERNMENT SAYS AS WEST PUSHES TO END CONFLICT
The government of Yemen is ready to immediately launch talks on the process of confidencebuilding, primarily the release of all detainees and prisoners...’’
Yemen’s government said yesterday it was ready to restart peace talks with the Iranian-aligned Al Houthi militia, as international moves to end the conflict gather pace.
The United Nations said a day earlier it aimed to relaunch the talks within a month, after a previous attempt collapsed in September when the militiamen refused to attend.
Earlier, the United States and Britain called for an end to the 3-1/2-year war that has driven impoverished Yemen to the verge of famine.
“The Republic of Yemen welcomes all efforts to restore peace,” a government statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency said. “The government of Yemen is ready to immediately launch talks on the process of confidencebuilding, primarily the release of all detainees and prisoners, as well as those who have been abducted or subject to enforced disappearance,” it said.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the biggest donors to UN humanitarian efforts in Yemen. The two countries provided about $930 million, or roughly one-third, of the UN humanitarian aid budget for Yemen this year.
The Saudi-led coalition has massed thousands of troops near Yemen’s main port city of Hodeida, local military sources said, in a move to pressure Al Houthis to return to UN-sponsored peace talks. In June, the Yemeni government forces, supported by a Saudi-led alliance, started a major offensive to liberate Hodeida. The coalition accuses Al Houthis of taking advantage of their control of the Hodeida port to obtain weapons from their Iranian patrons as well as confiscate aid intended for Yemenis.
Statement issued by government
The Yemeni government yesterday called for confidence-building measures amid an international push to revive the country’s longstalled peace process.
“The statements made over the past few days by several countries calling for a political solution [in Yemen] harmonise with the interest of the political leadership headed by President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to reach a political solution,” the government said in a statement carried by the official news agency Saba.
The Saudi-backed government expressed yesterday “prompt readiness” for confidence-building steps including release of war prisoners and boost of resources of Yemen’s central bank in order to ease economic hardships in the poor country.
Yemen has descended into devastating unrest since the Iran-allied Al Houthi militants deposed the internationally recognised government and seized parts of the country’s territory, triggering a severe humanitarian crisis.
The United States on Wednesday called for a ceasefire, as Sweden said it is ready to be the venue for a new round of talks on Yemen’s peace proposed by UN envoy Martin Griffiths. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis both urged an end to hostilities and resumption of talks that collapsed in September.
Other steps “include reopening of airports according to synchronised measures, which would guarantee safety and allow the UN to monitor the Hodeida port, the government added.
It also demanded Yemenis’ free access to humanitarian aid, being hampered by Al Houthis, and ending rebels’ siege of civilians in the south-western province of Taiz.
The coalition has meanwhile been massing troops on the outskirts of the Red Sea port of Hodeida as Al Houthis took up positions along the frontlines.
The Arab coalition has hampered the arrival of militia reinforcements to Hodeida by mounting a series of air strikes, Al Arabiya reported yesterday.
The strikes, which targeted Al Houthis’ training camps and gatherings east of Hodeida, left dozens of the militiamen dead and injured, according to military sources in Yemen’s west coast. The bombardment also targeted militant reinforcements on a coastal route near the Hodeida University, according to the report.