International Shia News Agency
All NewsFeaturedHuman rightsMiddle EastNEWS BRIEFSOther Newsworld

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government rejects UN troops in Hodeidah

SHAFAQNA- Yemen‘s Saudi-backed government rejects U.N. troops in Hodeidah city. Earlier representatives from Yemen’s Houthi and the internationally recognised government held direct talks for the first time in Sweden on Sunday in what is seen as another positive step towards finding peace. The UN-led negotiations in the Swedish village of Rimbo have so far resulted in an agreement of a prisoner swap, but the fate of Hodeidah and its port, a valuable front line, has proven to be a sticking point in the consultations.

Mediator Martin Griffiths, who opened United Nations-sponsored peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties in Sweden, wants to avert a full-scale assault on the Red Sea city. Yemen’s Saudi-backed government is willing to accept a U.N. role in Hodeidah’s seaport, a lifeline for millions of people during the country’s war, but not a long-term presence in the city itself, Foreign Minister Khalid al Yamani said on Monday.

The Houthis told Reuters they want Hodeidah to be declared a neutral zone. But Yamani rejected this idea. “The concept of peacekeeping or some sort of permanent presence of the U.N. — boots on the ground — or making the city as neutral is something that we will never accept,” he said on the sidelines of the talks.

Yamani, who heads the Hadi government delegation, said the city should be placed under the control of the interior ministry’s police forces as a matter of sovereignty. However, the government is willing to accept the deployment of monitors from the U.N. Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) in the port, the entry point for most of Yemen’s commercial goods and aid supplies.

The U.N. is seeking agreement on a ceasefire in Hodeidah

The U.N. is seeking agreement on a ceasefire in Hodeidah and other confidence-building steps such as re-opening Sanaa airport after a deal was reached on a prisoner swap. But, another sticking point is a transitional governing body. Hadi’s government insists the Houthis disarm first while the movement says this would require agreement on a unity government and timeframe for the transitional period.

“This is the first face-to-face meeting between the two committees [government and Houthis] and they will now be discussing the technicalities of releasing prisoners and detainees,” Hamza al-Kamali, a member of the Yemeni government delegation, told Al Jazeera.

Since talks began last week, United Nations officials have been shuttling between delegations from President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government and the Houthi . But on Sunday, officials from the Yemeni government said despite an impasse over the port of Hodeidah, a breakthrough over the release of prisoners was about to be reached following the direct talks.

Accourding to ALJazeera as many as 6,000 prisoners could be exchanged in the coming months. The Houthis were expected to release several high-ranking commanders within the Yemeni army, including the former minister of defence, General Mahmoud Al Subaihi, and relatives of President Hadi.

Reached a stumbling block

Mohammed al-Amiri, a member of the delegation and an adviser to the president, said the sides were still discussing “operational mechanisms that would determine the date and place of the release”.

While the opposing sides appeared to be edging closer to securing a deal on prisoners, the fate of Sanaa international airport and Hodeidah port reached a stumbling block on Saturday.

The Yemeni government insisted Aden would be home to the country’s main airport and the facility in Sanaa would only operate domestic flights.

Sanaa airport has been under Houthi control since 2014 and has been repeatedly bombed by the coalition, with planes, the runway and the main terminal building suffering severe damage. The Yemeni government says it is prepared to operate flights in and out of Sanaa, but only if the planes are inspected in Aden or Seiyoun airport, which are under the control of a Saudi-UAE coalition at war with the Houthis. The Houthis have rejected the idea with Mohammad Abdul Salam, head of the Houthi delegation, telling Al Jazeera the airport must be “opened in accordance with the international standards”.

An apparent stalemate concerning Hodeidah

There also appeared to be an apparent stalemate concerning the city of Hodeidah.

Hodeidah has proven to be the most difficult,” the UN source said, adding that progress on control of the port was crucial to ending the war, thenational told.

Hodeidah port is a lifeline for humanitarian supplies entering Yemen, but restrictions by the Saudi-UAE coalition on commercial goods has exacerbated the war-torn country’s crisis, with 22 million Yemenis needing assistance.

Yemen’s government, which claims its forces are only 3km from the port, is demanding the Houthis relinquish complete control and withdraw from the city. The Houthis have said they are prepared to hand over the port to the UN, but only if the Saudi-UAE coalition stops its air raids.

Focus on easing the siege in Taiz

Kamali, from the Yemeni government delegation, said despite the sides being at apparent loggerheads, talks on Sunday would also focus on easing the siege in Taiz. More than 200,000 civilians have been caught up by fighting in Taiz, a city some 200km south of the capital, Sanaa, that has become one of the major front lines in the battle for control of Yemen.

A U.N. source said Griffiths is hoping for agreement on a ceasefire in Hodeidah and Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, at this round while the rest of the issues can be tackled at another round in early 2019.

International pressure to end the war has mounted since the killing of Khashoggi

International pressure to end the war has mounted since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a leading critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in October by Saudi nationals in their consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Western powers have expressed anger over the killing and a group of bipartisan senators in the United States have been urging the Congress to limit Washington’s support for the war.

Yemen’s opposing sides have been meeting in the Swedish town of Rimbo, some 60km north of the capital Stockholm, since Thursday for talks aimed at discussing ways to end the fighting that has killed an estimated 56,000 people. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said the talks are not intended to reach a political solution to the conflict, but to introduce a set of confidence-building measures that could pave the way for more comprehensive peace talks. A UN official later told Al Jazeera the second round of talks has been agreed to in principle to be held in January.

Related posts

UN: Nearly 17 million Syrians need humanitarian aid

leila yazdani

Al-Bukhaiti: “Aggression against Yemen has painful responses”

parniani

Erdoğan: USA-UK trying to turn Red Sea into “sea of blood”

rahman samadreza

Yemeni Army’s Spokesman: US-UK bear full responsibility for aggression against Yemeni people

parniani

Russia declares USA-UK strikes on Yemen violate international law

parniani

Iran reacts to USA-UK aggression against Yemen

parniani

Leave a Comment