Dubai: Yemen’s government dismissed as a “manoeuvre” on Thursday Al Houthis’ acceptance of a UN-sponsored peace plan and demanded that the Iran-backed group hand back territory it has seized since last year.
Al Houthis, who control much of Yemen along with the party of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said on Wednesday they had officially informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of their readiness to join talks to end more than six months of fighting in which about 5,000 people have died.
Asked about the overture from the Al Houthi-Saleh camp, however, President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s press secretary, Mukhtar Al Rahbi, said: “The government’s position is unchanged. There must be an announcement of willingness to implement all articles of the (UN) resolution without any changes. We are ready to go to any talks after a clear acceptance of the implementation of the UN resolution.” Al Rahbi added that the Al Houthi and Saleh acceptance had come with conditions.
“We consider this (Al Houthis’ acceptance) a manoeuvre, especially after the painful strikes they received,” said Al Rahbi, referring to the advances by the coalition east of Sana’a and the capture of the Bab Al Mandab strait in south-western Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition and President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi view Al Houthis as proxies of Iran and regard Saleh as a spoiler trying to undermine a political accord that allowed him to step down following months of protests in 2011.
The coalition has made progress on the battlefield in recent weeks, giving Hadi little incentive to deal with Al Houthis.
In their letter to UN chief Ban last week, Al Houthis accepted an April UN Security Council resolution calling for them to leave Yemeni cities.
They also urged Ban to convene talks on a seven-point peace plan proposed by the United Nations in talks in Oman last month.
On Wednesday, the United Nations said that the Al Houthi militia had agreed to stop fighting and that a UN envoy was going to the region to see how Yemen’s government will respond.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Al Houthis accepted a UN Security Council resolution that calls for an end to violence, withdrawal of their forces from all areas they have seized, and a halt to undermining the political transition in Yemen.
The April 14 resolution imposed an arms embargo on Al Houthi leaders and their key supporters, Saleh and his son.
Dujarric said the UN special envoy for Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, who has been trying to end the conflict, welcomed Al Houthis’ latest statements accepting the resolution.
Dujarric said Ould Shaikh Ahmad believes the government, Al Houthis and their allies should accept a UN invitation to join peace talks based on Security Council resolutions, an initiative by the GCC and the country’s National Dialogue.
He said Ould Shaikh Ahmad will be returning to the region on Thursday to try “to gel what is being said into something a little more concrete”. He will also seek the support of the government, Al Houthis and regional powers for peace talks, Dujarric said.
Several previous attempts to end the conflict have failed, and it has proven nearly impossible to arrange a humanitarian pause to deliver desperately needed aid.
The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed so far in the conflict and has expressed alarm over a recent surge in civilian casualties.
