Yemen peace talks witness unexpected actions on its first day
YemenExtra
Y.A
The first closed-door meetings between the two sides of the Yemeni conflict have begun on Thursday in Sweden. The teams were reportedly divided into four groups to discuss the issues at hand amid high tension in Yemen due to many military operations by the Saudi-led coalition, backed by the US.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths had held two separate meetings with the heads of the two delegations in order to discuss the agenda, noting that the agreement had divided the first negotiating session into four groups.According to international media, the first group was tasked to discuss the reunification of the Yemeni central bank and ending the financial division between Sanaa and Aden.The second group was tasked to discuss military truce and halting the military escalation, and the third group to debating the reopening of Sana’a International Airport to civilian flights. The fourth group discussed the exchange of prisoners according to a pact that all parties have signed.
UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the immediate removal of Saudi Arabia’s blockade on Yemen as the Sweden talks started. He also called on the Ansarullah movement and Yemen’s former Saudi-backed government to show flexibility and make room for progress.
The head of the national delegation representing Yemen in the consultations of Sweden, on Friday, confirmed that the consultations did not exceed the ideas and views so far. However, they are distinguished from the previous ones because the international community has been fed up with the practices of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This is what we have seen in our meetings, but we will not judge the seriousness of the consultations unless the United Nations On the support of America to stop the war and end the siege.
In terms of Aden airport and the declaration of the government of Hadi its willing to open it internally and inspect the aircraft at the airport Aden Abdul Salam said Aden airport under the occupation of the United Arab Emirates and the airport is not qualified and will not accept the inspection of aircraft in Aden.He added: “We first demand the liberation of Yemeni airports and cities from the occupation and we know that the Yemeni aircraft can not stay even one night in the south, and we demand the opening of Sanaa International Airport according to international technical standards, which can benefit from the European Union, but the warplanes go to Aden to be inspected , it will not be different from Bisha airport in Saudi Arabia. “
Over the port of Hodeidah, Abdul Salam said in a telephone conversation with Al-Jazeera : “We put forward a proposal to the United Nations to technically supervise the goods received to the port of Hodeidah and supervision of its financial revenues, but these demands are considered military demands and can not be accepted
The Ministry of Human Rights warned the coalition forces for continuing their aggressive attacks against the Yemeni people and vital institutions, which is aimed at derailing the peace consultations currently underway in Sweden, according to a ministry statement.
The statement by the Ministry of Human Rights pointed out to the escalation of the coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, in the coastal province of Hodeidah, where it has committed horrific crimes by targeting civilians, especially children and women, in the districts of al-Durayhmi Tuhita, in addition to the July-7 neighborhood, Hodeidah governorate.
In the last 72 hours, more than 60 air raids had targeted several areas in the coastal province of Hodeidah, an official source reported.
Moreover, the ministry has specifically given the responsibility to the Security and Human Rights Councils, to stop the escalation and support the efforts achieved by the UN envoy to Yemen so the bloodshed of the Yemeni people could end and create peace, and most importantly to end the Saudi imposed siege on more than 22 million Yemenis who do not know when and from where their next meal they will get.
The coalition warplanes , however, on the first day of peace talks in Swesen ,launched over 28 airstrikes on various parts of Yemen despite earlier claims that it had ordered its forces halt their attacks on Yemen .
“The fact that the coalition forces and their mercenaries have continued their aggression against Yemen on the first day of peace talks in Sweden indicates that the aggressors have no interest in the establishment of peace and preparing the grounds for a second round of talks,” Yemen’s al-Masirah television network quoted a Yemeni army general as saying.
The coalition on Tuesday, Wednesday escalated ground and air attacks on Yemen ahead of the UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden, army spokesman Yahya Sarie said.On Tuesday, the coalition launched over 50 airstrikes and scores of ground attacks on the Yemeni territories over the past 24 hours, he told reporters.On Wednesday, the coalition launched over 69 airstrikes and dozens of ground attacks on Yemeni territories over the past 12 hours, he told state Saba news agency.
He also said in a press conference on Monday that the coalition continued military escalation in all fronts and do not respond to ceasefire’s calls in Yemen.The coalition fighter jets have waged over 340 strikes on Saada, Hajjah, Hodeidah and other Yemeni provinces over the past ten days, killing and injuring dozens of civilians, he added.
The United Nations said that Yemen will exceed Syria in terms of the need for humanitarian assistance for the first time in 201.A report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said on Thursday that the international organization needs more than 4 billion dollars to provide basic aid to Yemen in 2019, compared to 3.5 billion to Syria, adding that the situation in Yemen deteriorated significantly, and is growing rapidly, while most of the population face a deficit in food supplies .The report pointed out that more than one-third of the country’s 24 million people are suffering from extreme poverty.
The Board of Directors of Swedish Association of Solidarity with Yemen, in coordination with the Schiller Institute Board members specializing in West Asian affairs, are organizing a vigil to oppose the war on Yemen next Saturday in the center of the Swedish capital, Stockholm.The Association, called Jemensolidaritet, will kick off their action week with an image exhibition and protests against the coalition war against Yemen, according to Ulf Sandmark, the chief Swedish activist against the war on Yemen said.
In terms of the daily Yemenis support of the battlefronts ,Sheikhs, dignitaries, and tribesmen of Alsanatain (Bani Surim) in Khmer district held an extended meeting to implement outcomes of the previous meeting held in the city for mobilization to support fronts.Sheikh Amin Atef, a member of Shura Council, stressed the need to implement outcomes of the previous meeting in the district and translate them by making more efforts into practical.He further stressed the need for effective action in society in a spirit of teamwork and with seriousness to continue the various activities and events.
Tribesmen of Sabaiha in Yemen’s Lahj province also threatened the exiled Hadi’s government that they will not keep silent towards the marginalization and deliberate reprisals of the tribe.They said that the outgoing Hai’s government deprived Sabaiha’s tribesmen of all their rights, denying all sacrifices made by of the tribe.Sabaiha’s tribesmen stressed that the practices of the government of Hadi against them should not be tolerated.They called on all the tribesmen to revolt for their political and militant history that Hadi is trying to obliterate and wipe out.
In March 2015, the US -backed –Saudi-led coalition started a war against Yemen with the declared aim of crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who had taken over from the staunch Riyadh ally and fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, while also seeking to secure the Saudi border with its southern neighbor. Three years and over 60,000 dead and injured Yemeni people and prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country, the war has yielded little to that effect.
Despite the coalition claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.
More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
However, Saudi Arabia relies heavily on the US in its brutal war on Yemen. Washington has deployed a commando force on the Arab kingdom’s border with Yemen to help destroy arms belonging to Yemen’s popular Houthi Ansarullah movement. Washington has also provided logistical support and aerial refueling.
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