Ceasefire agreed in Yemeni city
A FORMER Islamist militant in Somalia now running for a regional presidency, putting him at odds with the central government, has been arrested and beaten, precipitating street clashes, his spokesperson said yesterday.
South West will be the first of Somalia’s seven semi-autonomous regions to hold presidential elections in the coming months, a critical juncture in a growing power struggle in the aftermath of a lengthy civil war.
Mukhtar Robow was beaten and arrested by Ethiopian peacekeeping forces when he reached the office of the interim president of the state. There was fighting between residents and government forces in Baidoa.
Robow, a former prominent al-Shabaab insurgent and group spokesperson, laid low for several years before publicly renouncing violence and recognising the authority of the US-backed federal government in August 2017. YEMEN’S warring parties agreed to a ceasefire in the strategic Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah and to place it under the control of local forces, the UN chief said at the close of peace talks in Sweden yesterday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a political framework for peace negotiations would be discussed at another round of talks between the Saudi-backed government and the Iranian-aligned Houthis.
The Houthis control most population centres in Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a, from where they ousted the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in 2014.
Guterres said armed forces of both parties would withdraw from Hodeidah. Coalition troops have massed on the outskirts of the city, the main entry for most of Yemen’s commercial imports and aid supplies.
“I am glad that we made real progress here in Sweden,” he said, describing the deal as a “big step” for the Yemeni people.
Coalition leaders Saudi Arabia and the UAE have come under pressure by Western allies, many of which supply the alliance with arms and intelligence, to end the nearly four-year war that has killed tens of thousands.
The coalition intervened in the war in 2015 to restore Hadi’s government, but has been bogged down in a military stalemate for years.
Riyadh has come under increased Western scrutiny over its activities following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate in October.
Meanwhile, the US Senate on Wednesday voted to open debate on a resolution calling for the end to US backing for the Saudi-led attack in Yemen, as the killing of Khashoggi continues to strain ties between the Trump administration and the Congress.
The Senate voted 60-39 to open debate on the resolution, which was sponsored by Republican Senator Mike Lee and independent Senator Bernie Sanders, signalling an increasingly bipartisan notion to review Saudi Arabia’s role in Khashoggi’s death and the Yemen conflict.
However, it remained uncertain how the amendments to the resolution would influence the final vote, which could come later. Bob Corker, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairperson, said he was preparing a separate resolution condemning Khashoggi’s death. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell urged senators to vote for Corker’s proposal.
“I think every single member of this body shares grave concerns about the murder of Khashoggi and wants accountability,” McConnell said. “We also want to preserve a 70-year partnership between the US and Saudi Arabia, and we want to ensure it continues to serve American interests and stabilises a dangerous and critical region.”
The two resolutions, if passed, would represent a bold challenge to the Trump administration, which has said there is no smoking gun that proves Saudi crown prince’s direct involvement in Khashoggi’s death, hence has been reluctant to further punish the kingdom, in spite of the US intelligence’s conclusion on the involvement of the Saudi leader in the case.
The tragedy has further intensified outrage over the heavy civilian casualties caused by the Saudi-led attack in Yemen. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis were set to brief the full House on Khashoggi’s case and the Yemen conflict. |