United Nations: The Saudi and Yemeni ambassadors on Wednesday said they are optimistic that peace talks between the Yemeni government and the Al Houthi militia will take place in mid-November after weeks of preparations to try to prevent another failure.
Saudi Ambassador Abdullah Al Mouallimi and Yemen’s Khalid Al Yamani told reporters after meeting members of the Yemeni community that the talks will focus on implementing a UN Security Council resolution approved in April that requires the rebels to withdraw from all areas they have seized and lay down arms captured in months of fighting.
Al Yamani said the agenda for the talks, likely to be held in Geneva, should be completed by the end of this week.
The UN special envoy for Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmea, who has been trying to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table, will be at UN headquarters next week for consultations, Al Yamani said.
Fighting in Yemen has killed more than 4,000 people, leaving the Arab world’s poorest country in the grip of a humanitarian crisis and on the brink of famine. The UN says over 21 million people — 80 per cent of the population — need humanitarian assistance.
The conflict pits Yemen’s President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a US ally, against the Iranian-backed Al Houthis, who seized the capital, Sana’a, last year, and military units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. A Saudi-led and US-backed coalition supporting the government began launching air strikes against the Al Houthis and their allies on March 26.
At UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva on June 19, the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels failed to agree on even a temporary ceasefire.
Saudi envoy Al Mouallimi said the Yemeni delegation expressed concern at the upcoming peace talks because they don’t want to see the rebels “reap any fruits from their illegal takeover of state institutions”.
During the current preparations, he said Al Houthis attempted “to throw in other conditions and other elements” that are not part of the UN resolution. But he said Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Ould Shaikh Ahmad have made clear that new talks will focus only on implementing that resolution.
“So we are optimistic — we are hopeful that the discussions will take place,” Al Mouallimi said.
Yemen’s Al Yamani said opening peace talks to any other issues will only lead to another failure.
He also said Al Houthis should show support for new talks by withdrawing from some areas.
“Of course, we will be very flexible in the withdrawal process,” he said, saying the process will be gradual and that the Al Houthis will be replaced by Yemen’s national army.
Prominent figures of the Yemeni community in New York City expressed their thanks and gratitude to Saudi leaders for their support for Yemen and its people.
This came on during the meeting between the ambassador and a number of prominent Yemeni community members who went to the headquarters of the Saudi mission in New York to express their thanks and appreciation to the kingdom for its noble position in support of the Yemeni people, the Saudi Press Agency has reported.
