Yemen rejects UN-Houthi ‘air bridge’ amid fears Hezbollah could abuse mercy flights
‘Surprised’ officials say they talked to UN for months about flying sick civilians overseas for specialist treatment
Yemen’s government said it will not recognise an agreement between Houthi rebels and the UN to send critically ill civilians abroad for treatment, which was reached without its knowledge.
Officials in Yemen are concerned that fighters from Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah are operating alongside the rebels and could use the flights to smuggle its personnel and allies out of the country.
Hamza Al Kamali, a government minister, said: “We were surprised when we heard this development. The health ministry has been negotiating this subject with the United Nations for months.”
“We will not accept this deal or authorise it,” Mr Al Kamali said. “The only way we will accept it is if an agreement is made between the legitimate government of Yemen and the United Nations.”
There are fears the Iranian-backed Houthis want legitimacy by negotiating with the UN, despite illegally taking control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa and several other population centres.
The UN said its humanitarian co-ordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, signed an agreement in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Saturday to transfer “critically ill patients, by chartered air flight, to a medical facility that is equipped to manage such cases”.
Twelve medical conditions are covered by the deal and include patients suffering from leukaemia, early stage tumours, cervical cancer and thyroid cancer. It also covers those who need radiotherapy, and bone marrow and kidney transplants, said Dr Nevio Zagaria, the World Health Organisation representative in Yemen.
The WHO said an independent international company would review patients’ medical records to ensure they were eligible, without specifying where they would be sent for treatment. It said the humanitarian air bridge would operate for a trial period of six months.
Yemen’s Minister of Information, Muammar Al Iryani, said the agreement was a “dangerous development” that challenged international law and UN resolutions.
Meanwhile, the UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, arrived in Sanaa on Sunday to attempt to revive peace negotiations between the government and the Houthis, who refused to attend peace talks in Geneva this month after imposing last-minute conditions.
One of the demands was to allow the rebel delegation’s aircraft to carry wounded fighters to Muscat for treatment.
The civil war, which began when the Iran-backed rebels seized Sanaa in September 2014, has left 22 million people – more than 75 per cent of the population – in need of assistance, the UN said.
The UN’s appeal for $3 billion (Dh11bn) to tackle the crisis has so far raised only $1.92bn.
More than half of that came from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the leading members of the Arab military coalition supporting Yemen’s government.