Aden: Warring factions in Yemen are preparing to observe a week-long truce from December 15 while UN-mediated peace talks take place in Switzerland, Yemen’s foreign minister said Tuesday.
“An agreement on a ceasefire between the government and the putschists should enter into force on December 15 with the start of negotiations,” Abdul Malak Al Mekhlafi said.
A source in the cabinet of Yemen’s President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi said the truce would last seven days, as specified in a letter sent by Hadi to the UN Security Council.
“I informed the coalition’s leadership that we intend to start a ceasefire for 7 days, from December 15th to 21st, in conjunction with the consultations,” Hadi said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“It will be renewed automatically in case of compliance from the other side,” Hadi said.
Hadi said he hoped the UN envoy would receive assurances from Al Houthis to respect the truce or the coalition “will be forced to deal with any violation of the ceasefire”. Forces loyal to Hadi, backed by air strikes and ground forces from a mainly Gulf Arab coalition, have been locked for nine months in a civil war with Al Houthis, who rule the capital Sana’a and other cities.
Previous UN-mediated negotiations to end the conflict through dialogue failed as battles rage across the country and Saudi-led warplanes bomb positions of the Al Houthi group and its Yemeni army allies.
Earlier attempts at ceasefires in the conflict fell apart after the two sides accused each other of violations.
With the humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country worsening, UN envoy Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad said Monday that a swift halt to the fighting was imperative for those caught up in what has increasingly become a regional conflict.
Ould Shaikh Ahmad told reporters that three delegations would take part in talks likely to be held outside Geneva which will last “as long as it takes”.
The delegations include representatives of Hadi’s government, the Al Houthi rebels, and officials from the General People’s Congress (GPC), who are loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Though not formally aligned, some GPC members have expressed support for Al Houthis.
According to the cabinet source, the agreement reached ahead of talks calls on Al Houthis to “lift the siege of towns, allow the entry of humanitarian aid, and free military and political detainees”.
The truce “will be supervised by the UN and could be extended if respected by the (militants),” the source added.
There was no immediate confirmation from Al Houthis that they would abide by a ceasefire.
The United Nations says more than 5,700 people have been killed in Yemen, almost half of them civilians, since the Saudi-led air campaign began.
