In Blinken's meeting with Al-Alimi and Al-Zubaidi, Washington insists on supporting a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue
English - Wednesday 20 September 2023 الساعة 09:13 am
Mokha, NewsYemen, exclusive:
On the sidelines of their participation in the meeting of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the US Secretary of State’s meeting with the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, and the Council Member and President of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, came as an opportunity for Washington to confirm its position on the bilateral dialogue between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Houthi group.
Despite the announced American welcome to the round of negotiations currently held since September 14, between the Kingdom and the Houthis, as well as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement in his welcoming speech to President Al-Alimi and his deputy Al-Zubaidi, that everyone will work in a positive way to support these efforts, Blinken stressed in the same welcoming speech that Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations mediated by the United Nations “have become necessary to reach a lasting peace.”
In its coverage of this meeting, the US State Department website published, last Monday, the day the meeting took place, the text of Secretary Blinken’s welcoming speech to the President and his deputy in New York. The website also published an official summary of the Yemeni-American meeting by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Both texts are close in content, with the exception of Secretary Blinken noting that he had “just returned from a meeting between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council,” and that what he heard at that meeting “was a strong consensus of views about the importance of this moment” for Yemenis, describing it as “The opportunity now lies before the Yemeni people to finally move towards achieving comprehensive and lasting peace.”
Blinken’s reference to his meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council seemed like a message urging the Presidential Leadership Council to deal positively with the ongoing negotiations in Riyadh with the Houthi group, and at the same time he urged the parties represented in the Leadership Council to adhere to Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations between all parties, which are the negotiations to which Blinken renewed his government’s adherence. By supporting it, it is the most guaranteed way to achieve lasting peace.
Weeks ago, the Houthi group's media launched continuous campaigns against the American role in the Yemeni file, and the leaders of the first rank of the group accused America and Britain of trying to obstruct negotiations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They also try to portray their response to the negotiations with Saudi Arabia as being conditional on Saudi Arabia ignoring any American initiatives for a political solution in the country. . It is known that the Houthis' response to these negotiations came after receiving the green light from Iran and in light of the ongoing Omani mediation efforts since late last year.
The Houthis are evading the Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations, betting on the two Arab coalition states - Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to pressure the parties opposed to the coup group to accept the results of any negotiations, while the positions declared by the legitimate government and the parties opposed to the Houthi coup indicate that all local parties will not accept any... An agreement that does not end the militia’s coup against power and cancels all the changes it brought about in the structure of state institutions and public life during the past nine years.
The South is a pivotal issue
The accompanying of the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, with Council member Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this year indicates a unified position in the Leadership Council that any negotiations for a solution in Yemen must have the southern issue at its core and within its negotiating framework, which is The position announced by the Southern Transitional Council the day after the Houthi delegation traveled to Riyadh.
It seems that the southern issue today, nearly 20 years after its launch, has become the focus of attention of many countries in the region and the world, and Al-Zubaidi’s participation in the United Nations General Assembly meeting is a message to the world leaders gathered in this session, that peace in Yemen is based on the participation of the Yemeni parties. From the North and South in the negotiations, and to address the southern issue fairly or accept the secession of the South as a fait accompli.
The United States of America does not seem to support the option of separating the south from the north, and Blinken confirmed in his meeting with Al-Alimi and Al-Zubaidi that his country supports the Presidential Leadership Council within the framework of its joint commitment to achieving a permanent end to the conflict in Yemen and alleviating the suffering of the Yemenis. Blinken said in the meeting that his government is determined “for the truce to lead to a permanent nationwide ceasefire and the launch of a comprehensive Yemeni political process under the auspices of the United Nations,” stressing that “the political agreement between the Yemeni parties, which also responds to the calls of the Yemenis to achieve justice and accountability, is... "Only he can bring peace and prosperity to the country."
Blinken continued: “In our view, the way forward is clear: only negotiations, not hostilities, will bring security and prosperity to the people of Yemen. We support the Presidential Leadership Council headed by Mr. President (Alimi) and we support direct talks among all Yemenis to reach a lasting solution.” “We will do and continue to do everything we can to support the vitally important efforts in which you are all participating,” according to the US State Department website.
Comprehensive negotiations
With greater adherence to the principle of comprehensive negotiations by the parties opposed to the Houthi group, regional and international support for this position will increase, including support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Despite the clarity of the anti-Houthi parties’ reservations about the ongoing bilateral negotiations between the group and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Houthis are betting that the parties opposing them can accept any agreement, even if it is dominated by their impossible conditions. Such a bet involves a political miscalculation, especially when taking into account the position of the Southern powers, the National Resistance, and the Giants forces regarding the non-comprehensiveness of the negotiations, and the three parties have forces on the ground capable of creating a balance based on deterrence. In addition to these forces, there are military brigades directly affiliated with the Ministry of Defense in the legitimate government and distributed across all liberated governorates. If the Houthi group enjoys regional political support from Iran and the Sultanate of Oman, the parties opposing it enjoy the support and recognition of more than one country at the regional and international level, led by the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, France, and others. Also, Saudi Arabia’s isolation in these negotiations with the Houthis does not mean its abandonment. About its strategic allies in Yemen and the region.
Since the start of the Riyadh negotiations, the Houthi media and the Arab media supporting them have been promoting the lack of comprehensiveness of the negotiations. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that the Presidential Leadership Council and the anti-Houthi parties will not participate in these negotiations, and that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will officially announce the results of the negotiations after the end of this round, which was refuted by analysts. Politicians and close observers of political affairs in Yemen and the region.
