Yemen factions become cordial in a foreign land
The hallways and common rooms of a Swedish castle have hosted surprisingly cordial interactions between representatives from opposing sides of the bitter civil war in Yemen.
The negotiations at Johannesberg castle in the town of Rimbo are the first time Yemen government representatives and Houthi rebel leaders have officially met face to face since previous peace talks collapsed in 2016.
While the formal peace talks are yet to produce a breakthrough since the negotiations brokered by the UN began on Thursday, delegates from both sides have been mixing freely on the sidelines.
Thrown together in an isolated rural town with little access to the outside world, Yemeni leaders, whose men may have been fighting each other for more than three years, have had no problem in finding common ground.
Whether crossing paths in the hallway, dining together or sharing a prayer room, the delegates have displayed a friendly demeanour throughout.
“Whenever Yemenis meet they will always greet each other and will engage in conversation, no matter the circumstance,” Rana Ghanem, a member of the government delegation, told The National.
“We have been placed in the same residence, we dine together in the same room, we have had informal chats and there are people from our delegation who have known members of the Houthi party for years.”
In the past six days, the two groups have informally discussed a range of ideas for advancing peace, said Ms Ghanem, the only woman in either delegation.
This is the nature of the Yemeni people, she said. “The international community is shocked when they hear that we interact,” Ms Ghanem said.
Many members of the delegations are already on good terms, another government delegate said.
Even when on opposing sides of a civil war, “we will always show up to each other’s funerals and wedding ceremonies”, he said. “This is what we are about.”
That the two sides are staying under one roof carries a symbolic value that UN peacebrokers have seized on in the absence of major concrete steps towards peace.
The UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said that the two sides were demonstrating a “positive spirit”.
The goodwill has spread online, with images circulating of the Yemeni Minister of Culture, Marwan Al Dmaj, standing beside Yehya Nouri, a member of the Houthi delegation.
Displays of affection between the delegates, including an incident in which a Houthi representative kissed the hand of a government official in the castle’s media centre, have raised hopes that real progress towards peace might be made.
“I smile when I see these kinds of interactions and hope that peace can be resolved for Yemen,” Liza Al Badwi, a Yemeni human rights lawyer, told The National.
The remaining challenge is to convert goodwill into tangible steps towards peace.
“We need to establish a way of resolving our differences,” Ms Ghanem said.
The two sides aim to agree on confidence-building measures, including a prisoner swap, before talks end on Friday. If successful, they will establish a framework for more peace talks next year.