Yemeni govt, rebels reach truce on port
Pompeo hails ceasefire after Senate rebukes US support for Saudi Arabia
RIMBO, Sweden — Yemen’s warring parties have agreed to a ceasefire on a vital port in a series of breakthroughs in United Nationsbrokered peace talks that could mark a major turning point after four years of devastating conflict.
If implemented, the deal on Hodeida port, a key gateway for aid and food imports, could bring relief to a country where 14 million people stand on the brink of famine.
In a highly symbolic gesture on the seventh and final day of the peace talks in Sweden, Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled Yamani and rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdul-Salam shook hands to loud applause.
But the weeklong talks left a number of key issues unresolved. A new round of talks was scheduled for the end of January, with analysts predicting the United States will continue to up the pressure on ally Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the Yemeni government, to end the conflict.
Yemen has been mired in fighting between Houthi rebels and troops loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since 2014. But the war escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition stepped in on the government’s side. The conflict has killed more than 10,000 people and created a serious humanitarian crisis.
Under the Hodeida agreement, released on Thursday evening, an “immediate ceasefire” should come into effect in Hodeida and its three ports upon signing, followed by a “mutual redeployment of forces ... to agreed upon locations outside the city and the ports”.
The UN will play a “leading role” in management and inspections at the ports, for four years under rebel control. The port will eventually be under the control of “local security forces” — a term the rival parties disagree on.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said the rivals had also reached a “mutual understanding” on Yemen’s third city of Taiz, the scene of some of the most intense battles in the conflict, to facilitate the delivery of aid. No further details were given.
No deal has been reached on the future of the airport in the capital Sanaa or on economic measures needed to spare the population from further hunger.
Sanaa airport has been closed to commercial flights for nearly three years. The airport will be discussed at the next round of talks, UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was upbeat, saying “peace is possible”.
“The work ahead will not be easy, but we have seen what many considered improbable begin to take shape,” he said. “The end of these consultations can be the beginning of a new chapter for Yemen.”
Analysts said the Rimbo talks progressed better than anticipated, two years after the last negotiations hosted by Kuwait in 2016 collapsed with no breakthrough after three months. “The Sweden talks have achieved more than anyone expected,” the International Crisis Group said.
US Senate vote
The case of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, along with the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, were the turning point for the US.
The US, the United Kingdom and France are still the biggest arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia.
Both the rebels and government alliance are accused of failing to protect civilians. The UN last year blacklisted the Saudi-led coalition for the killing and maiming of children in air raids.
Before Pompeo made the statement, the US Senate approved a resolution to end US backing for the Saudi-led intervention.
The largely symbolic resolution cannot be debated in the House of Representatives before January, and would likely be vetoed in any case by US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly signaled his backing for Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab coalition partners “strongly support” the agreement, Riyadh’s US Ambassador Khalid bin Salman said, while Iran hailed the breakthroughs as “promising”.