COALITION: NEW PHASE IN YEMEN CAMPAIGN

Military and humanitarian plan to press rebels to negotiating table

The UAE said that the Arab Coalition in Yemen is preparing the next phase of its military and humanitarian plan to push the Houthi rebels towards the negotiating table.

During a joint coalition meeting in Washington, Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba reiterated the Emirates’ support for UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith’s efforts to “facilitate the Houthis’ peaceful and unconditional handover of Hodeidah port and city to the legitimate government of Yemen”.

Yemen government forces, backed by the coalition – which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE – launched an offensive against Hodeidah on June 13 to box the rebels into Sanaa, cutting off their supply lines and forcing them to work on a political process. The coalition intervened in the war in March 2015 at the request of the internationally-recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

“The coalition is preparing the next phase of its calibrated and integrated military and humanitarian plan to press the Houthis to the negotiating table, while meeting the needs of the Yemeni people,” the UAE Embassy in the US tweeted.

It also said Hodeidah’s port remained open, and that 25 ships had unloaded goods in the past month.

“Food for 6.6 million people for a month is already stockpiled in Hodeidah. But the Houthis are stealing and selling aid to fund their war effort,” the Embassy said.

“The Houthis have placed tens of thousands of landmines and IEDs. They are firing ballistic missiles. They are using sea mines to block shipping.”

The Arab Coalition said it foiled a Houthi attack on civilian fishing boats in the Red Sea yesterday and seized the rebels’ boats along with a cargo of weapons. Fishermen in the province have reported being harassed by the rebels to help them smuggle in weapons.

The coalition also confirmed permitting an oil tanker to

enter Hodeidah port and said six ships were already unloading their cargoes, state Saudi broadcaster reported.

At the meeting in Washington, UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh outlined during the conference the Arab Coalition’s humanitarian plan to address the needs of the Yemeni people, including the restoration of Hodeidah port and other infrastructure damaged by the Houthis.

“Our efforts are now dedicated to implementing Security Council resolution 2216, which demands that the Houthis end their use of violence and withdraw their forces from all the areas they have seized,” she said.

“We believe liberating Hodeidah is vital in order to restart the political process,” she said.

Mr Griffiths said on Thursday after talks with Mr Hadi in Aden, the de facto capital, that the rebels and the government had confirmed their willingness to talk.

The Yemeni government and the coalition said that the Houthis must withdraw completely from the city and hand over control to the UN. But the rebels have so far agreed only to share control with the UN.

The UAE’s military involvement has run in parallel with a programme to assist civilians, particularly through the Emirates Red Crescent. The ERC announced on Friday the distribution of food aid for 21,000 people in Khokha district of Hodeidah province, which was recaptured from the rebels in December.