Fall of Marib to Houthis would end peace process, says Yemeni minister
The fall of Marib to the Iranbacked Houthi rebels would mark the end of the peace process in Yemen, Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said yesterday.
The rebels began an offensive against the northern city, a government stronghold, in February.
It has become the focal point of the war as it hosts more than two million internally displaced people, almost 70 per cent of the total displaced in Yemen.
“The fall of Marib won’t only
lead to a horrific humanitarian situation, it will also mark the end of the political and peace process in Yemen,” Mr
Mubarak said at the Manama Dialogue forum in Bahrain.
Mr Mubarak said a takeover of Marib would unleash a disaster on a par with the collapse of the city’s dam that destroyed the kingdom of Saba about 1,400 years ago.
“We will undoubtedly say that if the Houthis control Marib, it will be as bad as when its historically famous dam was destroyed,” Mr Mubarak said.
Control of Marib would mean major gains for the rebels, as it is home to oil and gasfields where international firms including Exxon Mobil and Total have interests.
Marib’s natural gas bottling plant produces cooking gas for the nation of 29 million people.
Its power plant once provided 40 per cent of Yemen’s electricity.
The rebel push to take Marib has become “a strategic priority for the Iranian regime and its tools in the region”, Mr Mubarak said.
Without changing the situation on the ground, the Houthis will not agree to a negotiated peace.
“Having a functioning government from Aden serving all Yemenis, unifying all forces and defending Marib will be the main points to pushing the peace process forward,” he said.
Mr Mubarak said there could be no alternative to peace in Yemen.
“The war must end today rather than tomorrow,” he said.
“The danger has widened. It makes no doubt that the failure of the Iranian project in Yemen will ensure the failure of the Iranian project and the entire region.
“Its success in Yemen will usher in a new phase of conflict and lead to another cycle of violence.”
Mr Mubarak said that the government appreciated international efforts towards peace, but the war was not just a humanitarian matter.
“One of the mistakes we all made was that the Yemeni crisis was seen as a humanitarian crisis, that was the driver of any initiative, but we never approached the problem itself,” he said.
“Most of the talks were focused on a process rather than being result orientated.”
Mr Mubarak said the political roots of the war must be addressed to achieve a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace.