No missiles for rebels under new peace plan
LATEST PLAN FOR YEMEN WOULD HALT COALITION STRIKES IN RETURN
AUN peace plan for Yemen calls on Al Houthi militants to give up its ballistic missiles in return for an end to air strikes against it by a Saudi-led coalition and a transitional governance agreement, according to a draft of the document and sources.
The plan, which has not been made public and could be modified, is the latest effort to end Yemen’s three-year-old civil war, which has spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The conflict pits the Iranaligned Al Houthis, who carried out a coup in the capital Sana’a in 2014, against other Yemeni forces backed by a coalition loyal to internationally-recognised President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and led by US allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Power grab
The coalition fears Al Houthis are part of a regional power grab by Tehran. Previous efforts to end the conflict, which according to the United Nations has killed more than 10,000 people, have failed.
It is unclear whether the new plan will fare any better given the divergent interests of fighters on the ground and international backers.
A draft document seen by Reuters and confirmed by two sources familiar with it says that as a step toward new security arrangements, “heavy and medium weapons including ballistic missiles shall be handed over by non-state military actors in an orderly and planned fashion.” “No armed groups shall be exempt from disarmament,” it says.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the language included Al Houthis, who have launched ballistic missiles at neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
The document also cites plans to create a transitional government, in which “political components shall be adequately represented,” in an apparent nod to Al Houthis, who would be unlikely to cede Sana’a without participation in a future government.
“The intention is to link security and political aspects starting with a cessation of fighting ... then to move towards a withdrawal of forces and the formation of a national unity government. This last objective could possibly be the hardest,” one of the sources said.
The peace plan was drafted by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, who is due to present a “framework for negotiations” in Yemen by mid-June.
An Al Houthi official cautiously welcomed the UN efforts, describing a ceasefire as the first building block in the political process.
“Our optimism will be determined by how serious and respectful the other parties are of the UN role,” the official told Reuters, noting that previous truces had failed. The wider peace plan appears designed to win a quick ceasefire while leaving many thorny issues for later negotiation.
Coalition launches air strikes
Meanwhile on the ground, fighter jets and artillery of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in Yemen launched air strikes on Al Houthi locations in Beit Al Faqih and Al Duraihami districts in the south of Hodeida. The strikes resulted in the destruction of their military reinforcements and equipment.
Eighty-six Houthis were killed in air raids launched by the Arab Coalition as the forces carried out an operation to clear out Al Houthi pockets in Al Taif and Al Nukhaila in preparation for the battle to liberate Hodeida.
Coalition forces also targeted Al Houthi locations and reinforcements in the east of Al Mashrai’e, Al Jarrahi and western Hussainiya.
The Yemeni Resistance forces have come a long way in liberating more than 90 square km of area from Al Hima Port to Al Duraihmi district, south of Hodeida, in a short period of time amid continued military operations to clean the centres of Tahita, Zubaid and Beit Al Faqih districts from Al Houthis and the eastern areas adjacent to the coastal strip, as part of the liberation of Al Hodeida.