A state of anticipation for the resumption of negotiations.. Governmental demands for guarantees and Houthi anticipation of failure
English - Monday 01 May 2023 الساعة 10:21 am
Al-Mocha, NewsYemen, exclusive:
As the supposed date for completing the discussion of the terms of the peace agreement in Yemen approaches, political sources revealed that the Yemeni government is demanding international guarantees for the full implementation of its provisions, while the Houthi leaders continue to threaten to resume the war and anticipate the failure of the negotiations.
On Saturday, the Emirati newspaper, Al-Bayan, quoted political sources as saying that the sponsors of the settlement in Yemen have been engaged in continuous discussions since the mediators' visit to Sana'a and the meeting with the leaders of the Houthi militia, noting that the government's demand for international guarantees for the implementation of the agreement is based on its long experience with the Houthi militia, an arm of the Houthi movement. Iran, which has not committed itself to implementing any agreement since the beginning of its rebellion against the central state nearly two decades ago.
The sources added that these discussions "focus on the political vision, the transitional period, and the obligations of the parties to it, especially since the Houthi militia has declared its intentions regarding dealing with local parties, and set conditions that enable it to achieve through peace what it has been unable to achieve throughout the years of war." In particular, monopolizing the rule of Yemen.
It stressed that the Houthis did not make any clear commitments to end the coup, which calls for pressure to achieve this. While these sources alerted to the difficulty of the political file, they did not rule out starting the implementation of the humanitarian part of the agreement, and the issues that were agreed upon, during the first phase of the talks, which are the issues related to renewing the truce for an additional six months that can be renewed, and restoring the work of all Yemeni crossings in the way it was. On it before the war, pay the salaries of employees in militia-controlled areas, start discussing the unification of the currency, and end the division of the central bank.
According to these developments, the sources said, the mediators propose nine months to complete a final agreement according to which a transitional government will be formed during the year 2024, as the first period of the proposed period will be devoted to implementing the humanitarian aspects and stabilizing the ceasefire, especially the economic file. Which faces great challenges as a result of the division of the central bank.
The sources pointed out that the mediators are facing similar difficulties in the file of resuming oil and gas exports, as this requires maintenance of the pipeline transporting crude oil to the export port on the Red Sea and waiting for the installation of the new floating oil tank in place of the dilapidated Safer tanker, as well as maintenance of the pipeline transporting liquefied gas from the production fields. in Marib.
Al-Bayan newspaper published last week that negotiations between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia are supposed to resume this week, while Houthi media reported statements by a member of the group's "political bureau", Mohammed al-Farah, in which he threatened Saudi Arabia and the countries of the region to target maritime and air traffic. These media quoted al-Farah as saying that his group would not stop at targeting "oil and desalination wells and refineries in the event of failure of negotiations." Rather, the matter will extend to stopping navigation traffic completely, adding: "We will all remain without ports and airports."
And last Monday, the appointed Minister of Defense in the Houthi militia authority said that his group has "important strategic means and methods" to strike neighboring countries, accusing the Arab coalition of what he called "managing policies and creating crises in the humanitarian aspects against the Yemeni people."
The Houthis' threats and their anticipation of the failure of the negotiations are matched by political calm on the part of the Presidential Leadership Council, which is trying to keep pace with regional and international efforts to bring peace to the country, in light of a state of cautious anticipation of the outcome of the negotiations during the coming period.
