Saudi talks support political solution to war in Yemen
Yemen’s Prime Minister and GCC officials met in Riyadh yesterday to discuss a new UNled peace initiative starting in Geneva next month.
Ahmed bin Daghr reaffirmed the Yemeni government’s intention to support the talks due to start on September 6 and said the intervention of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition had helped his country to stand up to Iran’s interference through its support of the Houthi rebels.
“A political solution must be based on unity. The coup imposed on Yemen by the Iranian-backed Houthis posed a threat to Yemen and its allies,” Mr bin Daghr said.
The meeting also discussed the GCC-backed political transition that was disrupted when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and overthrew the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in the Arab Coalition intervened in the conflict at the request of Mr Hadi’s government in March 2015.
GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif Al Zayani said the implementation of UN Resolution 2216 was vital to achieve a solution that would meet the aspirations of Yemenis.
“The Houthis committed the worst kind of atrocities against the people of Yemen,” Mr Al Zayani said in his opening statement.
Resolution 2216, passed by the UN Security Council in 2015, expressed support for Mr Hadi’s government and the political transition, which involves drafting a new constitution, electoral reform, a referendum on the draft constitution and general elections.
It also called for a halt to the fighting and for the rebels to give up territory and weapons and to “refrain from any provocation or threats to neighbouring states”.
Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for Yemen, has said that talks next month will focus on a transitional government and disarmament.
“Primarily, we are trying to reach an agreement between the Yemeni government and [the Houthis] on the issues essential to ending the war and on a national unity government,” Mr Griffiths told
Asharq Al Awsat newspaper. Yesterday, government troops liberated large parts of Al Duraihimi south of Hodeidah, killing 15 Houthi fighters and arresting about 100.
“Our forces stormed most of the Houthi fortifications in the centre of Al Duraihimi,” said Lt Shafiq Al Maqraee of the Al Amalikah brigades.
On Sunday, a high ranking Houthi officer and two of his men were shot dead by masked gunmen in Hodeidah, residents told The National.