Houthis fail to turn up at talks for second day
GENEVA — The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has discussed issues including prisoners, humanitarian access and the reopening of Sanaa airport with Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled Al Yamani, a UN spokeswoman said on Friday.
But Griffiths, who began consultations with the Yemen government delegation in Geneva on Thursday, was still awaiting representatives of the Iranian-allied Houthi militia from the capital Sanaa in order to hold peace talks, UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said.
“He is still working on getting the Ansarullah delegation to Geneva,” she said.
Meanwhile, she said, he had been discussing confidence-building measures, humanitarian access, Sanaa airport and economic issues with the representatives of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognised government. —
SANAA — The United Nations-mediated peace talks on Yemen have stalled pending the arrival of the Shia rebels who said they didn’t attend because they were not guaranteed safe return after the discussions.
The talks, meant to be the first between Yemen’s warring parties in two years, were scheduled for Thursday in Geneva. A delegation from Yemen’s internationally recognised government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled Al Yamani arrived but the rebels, known as the Houthis, have not.
The official SABA news agency carried a Yemeni government statement on Friday blaming the Houthis for hindering the talks and saying their failure to attend shows “their intention to thwart any steps taken by the UN envoy to bring peace and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.”
Yemen’s foreign minister Yamani insisted the Houthi delay was evidence of infighting.
“We came to Geneva .. ready
and willing to delve into talks” on confidence-building, Yamani told UAE’s Sky News.
He slammed the Houthi “excuses” for not arriving on time as “an attempt to cover up something critical, and that is that the insurgents are arguing about who among them will represent them in Geneva.”
Saudi Arabia and its allies have meanwhile said they have already granted the Houthis clearance to fly, accusing the rebels of intransigence.
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher accused the rebels of “speaking no language other than force” and “using negotiations to secure more arms”, in a tweet on Thursday.
The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash criticised the Houthis’ demands on Twitter saying they can only be read as “lacking seriousness” and “an obstruction” to the talks. The United Arab Emirates is a key coalition member. The UN special
envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, held consultations with Yemen’s government delegation on “confidence-building measures including the issue of prisoners, humanitarian access, the reopening of Sanaa airport in addition to economic issues,” UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said on Friday.
“The special envoy for Yemen also met with diplomats and is still working on getting the Ansar Allah delegation (Houthis) to Geneva,” she said. The Houthis insist on travelling to Geneva on an Omani flight, saying it would ensure their safe return to Yemen.
“We want guarantees on our return to Yemen,” senior Houthi official Deif Allah Al Shami said on Friday.
On Thursday, senior rebel official Mohammed Ali Al Houthi said on Twitter that the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government refused to grant the Omani flight authorisation to transfer their delegation to Geneva. He said the refusal raises the risk of being prevented from returning to Yemen, which happened in 2016 after a failed round of talks.
Houthi officials claimed that they had also agreed with the United Nations envoy to evacuate some wounded to neighbouring Oman for treatment and others in Muscat to be flown to Sanaa. But they said these demands were also not met.