The talks on Yemen starting today in Kuwait are the best hope for ending the year-long war that has devastated the country. It is time for all parties to work hard and find the right way to achieve a solution, and so redeem the sacrifice of so many who have gone to war to help rebuild legitimate governance across the country.
Yemen desperately needs peace and the restoration of the rule of law after more than one in ten Yemenis have been displaced by the fighting, and thousands have been killed and wounded, while the collapse of all infrastructure has taken large parts of the country to the brink of starvation.
The war started a year ago when the Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi against Al Houthi rebels and their allies from forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and it has raged ever since despite numerous failed efforts to find a peaceful end. This is why it is encouraging that the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, told the UN Security Council last Friday that the government and Al Houthis have “never been so close to peace”.
The crucial development has been recent private talks between the Saudis and Al Houthis, in which they seem to have agreed on a positive way forward, but this does not appear to include Al Houthis’ ally Saleh, who commands substantial elements of the former Yemeni army.
The dismissal of Yemeni southerner vice-president Khalid Bahah and his replacement by the northerner General Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar was interpreted as giving the government more muscle in the north should it be necessary to enforce a solution on the remnants of Saleh’s forces. Of course it would be better for Saleh to contribute to the peace talks and find a way to join the process, and he has enough informal representatives in Kuwait to listen to, to find a way to end his role in the conflict.
Once the conflict with Al Houthis has been resolved, there is urgent action required to continue and expand the current military work to eliminate Al Qaida from a variety of bases across the country, including the southern port of Mukalla, where Al Qaida has used the chaos of the war to establish control. This long-term threat is a major concern to both Yemeni and many others in the region.
