Arabic coalition: we welcome the political solution in Yemen with full withdrawal of Houthis from cities The Arab-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said Friday that it would welcome a political deal to end the conflict but indicated it would keep insisting on a complete w
Arabic coalition: we welcome the political solution in Yemen with full withdrawal of Houthis from cities
The Arab-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said Friday that it would welcome a political deal to end the conflict but indicated it would keep insisting on a complete withdrawal by the Houthis from territory seized since 2014.
The statement from the alliance came after U.N. Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths said he hoped to get the warring parties to the negotiating table in the next few weeks to end fighting at the port city of Hudaida. The United Nations hopes a breakthrough at Hudaida could lead to a wider solution to the 3-year-old conflict that has killed more than 10,000 and caused the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis, with millions facing starvation and disease.
“I’d like to get the parties together within the next few weeks at the very latest,” Griffiths told U.N. radio late Thursday. “I’m hoping that the [U.N.] Security Council will meet next week and we’ll put a plan before them as to how we’re going to bring the talks back.”
In recent days Griffiths met ousted President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi and Mohammad Abdel-Salam, chief negotiator of the Houthi group, which controls the capital Sanaa and most populated areas.
The alliance of Arab states led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia has been fighting since 2015 to restore Hadi’s government and describes the Houthis as pawns of Iran, accusations the Houthis and Tehran deny.
“Both parties have confirmed to me their willingness to come to the table to restart negotiations. I think it’s long overdue that that should take place,” Griffiths said.
The Houthis have offered to hand over Hudaida port to the United Nations as part of an overall cease-fire in the governorate and Griffiths said he expected further talks with the Houthis in the coming days to agree on timing and other details.
Hadi’s side has accepted the proposal but efforts to avert an all-out attack on the port facilities were continuing, the U.N. envoy said.The Houthis have so far not yielded any territory they seized willingly. U.N. talks on a political deal collapsed in 2016 when Hadi’s government walked out after the Houthis refused to quit Yemen’s three main cities.
The coalition fighting to restore Hadi’s government said in a statement issued after Griffiths’ comments that “a political deal remains the best and most adequate solution to get Yemen out of its crisis.”
However, it said any peace deal should respect previous initiatives including a U.N. Security Council resolution on Yemen, all of which demand a Houthi withdrawal from territory seized since 2014.
The United Arab Emirates, which has been overseeing the Hudaida offensive, has said repeatedly that any deal would have to include the condition that the Houthis leave the port city and all its other territory on Yemen’s coast.
The Houthis were not immediately available for comment. The group has previously said it would not withdraw from Hudaida.
Friday, the frontlines were almost silent, military sources and residents of Hudaida province told Reuters, in a possible sign that Griffiths’ efforts may have started to bear results.
“Coalition forces were more focused in the last two days on securing the coastal road and consolidating previous gains,” a Yemeni military source said. “Except some skirmishes, it has been very calm all around Hudaida airport.”
The international community fears the next phase of the battle could see the coalition and its forces attack the city center and move on the port, which could cause both high casualties in Hudaida itself, and a potential humanitarian catastrophe if supplies to the rest of Yemen are cut.
The Houthis have been preparing for battle inside Hudaida by digging trenches, building defense berms and reinforcing their ranks with troops in Hudaida and in other towns surrounding the city.
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