UN evacuates wounded Al Houthis to Oman
MOVE MARKS KEY STEP IN KICKSTARTING STALLED PEACE TALKS
The proposed UN-brokered peace talks have been backed by both the militants and the government and are expected to take place in Sweden this week
Wounded Al Houthi militants were flown out of the Yemeni capital Sana’a yesterday for medical treatment, a critical step towards bringing warring parties to planned UN-brokered negotiations in Sweden.
The UN-chartered flight had taken off at 6pm (7pm UAE time) for Oman carrying 50 wounded rebels, their escorts and a team of doctors, a security source at Sana’a International Airport told AFP.
The United Nations’ envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, meanwhile landed in Sana’a on a separate plane to meet the Iran-backed militants, who have been locked in a four-year conflict with a Saudi-led military coalition.
A UN source confirmed wounded militants had been evacuated from the Yemeni capital in what was a “confidence-building measure” aimed at pushing ahead with negotiations between the Al Houthis and the coalition this month. The evacuation marks a key step in kickstarting stalled negotiations as world powers press for an end to the devastating conflict that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Saudi Arabia and its allies, who back Yemen’s internationally-recognised President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, had agreed to allow for the evacuation of 50 wounded combatants, 50 escorts and a team of Yemeni and UN doctors to the Omani capital early yesterday morning. The fate of wounded militants had been a stumbling block to the start of a previous round of aborted peace talks in Geneva in September.
The Al Houthis had said they would attend the talks in Sweden if they were guaranteed safe passage.
Journalists were banned from Sana’a International Airport in the hours leading up to the departure of the UN flight yesterday.
Earlier in the day, wounded rebels were transported across the capital, controlled by the militants since 2014, in ambulances as they made their way to the long-defunct airport. The proposed UN-brokered peace talks have been backed by both the rebels and the government and were expected to take place in Sweden this week.
Yemen’s Al Houthi group was set to travel to Sweden yesterday for peace talks after the Saudi-led coalition approved the evacuation of some of their wounded for treatment, paving the way for negotiations to end the nearly four-year-old war.
UN special envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in the Al Houthi-held capital Sana’a yesterday to escort the Al Houthi delegation, a UN source told Reuters. The Saudi-backed government has said it would follow Al Houthis to the talks, the first since 2016.
The peace talks may start tomorrow, two sources familiar with the matter said, after Griffiths shuttled between the parties to salvage a previous round that collapsed in September after Al Houthis failed to show up.
In addition to the evacuation of their wounded, the group had asked to travel on a plane not inspected by the coalition.
50 fighters at airport
A Reuters photographer saw the group of 50 wounded fighters entering Sana’a airport to wait for a UN commercial plane that would take them to Oman for treatment.
The coalition said in a statement it had agreed on the evacuation “for humanitarian considerations and as part of confidence-building measures” ahead of the talks, which are also due to focus on a transitional governing body.
Iran, which backs the Al Houthi militants, said it backs the talks and was ready to help find a political solution, Iranian state TV reported yesterday.
Griffiths hopes to reach a deal on reopening Sana’a airport and securing a prisoner swap and a ceasefire in Hodeida as a foundation for a wider truce, including a halt to coalition air strikes that have killed thousands of civilians and Al Houthi missile attacks on Saudi cities.