The parties to a conflict have reached an agreement for the Yemeni port city of Hudaida. In January, the negotiations should continue.
That’s it for now: Houthi representatives on Thursday in Rimbo, Sweden photo: reuters
BEIRUT taz | In the Yemeni port city of Hudaida, the weapons should be silent. With this agreement, the peace talks for Yemen in the Swedish Rimbo went on Thursday to the end. It is the first Time in two years that the Saudi Arabia-funded coalition sat to the Yemeni government and the Iranian-supported Houthi rebels to a table.
the city of Hudaida on the Red sea, fierce battles are raging for months. In June, the coalition launched an Offensive to recapture the city, which is controlled since 2014, the Houthi. International organisations warned that an escalation of the fighting would endanger the access to food for the starving population.
The port of Hudaida is the last bottleneck for the import of food and relief supplies into the Houthi-controlled areas, where seventy percent of the population lives. In these areas, the humanitarian situation is due to the economic blockade by the Anti-Houthi coalition is especially precarious.
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who had traveled on Wednesday night to Sweden, said that the UN would play in the control of the port a “key role” in order to facilitate the delivery of aid.
graphic: the info-text in berlin
The week-long round of talks in Sweden has raised hopes for a relaxation in the four-year ongoing war. Over 50,000 people have been killed due to Fighting in the past four years. The country is on the verge of a famine, around three-quarters of the population are dependent on humanitarian aid. The UN described the Situation in Yemen as “the worst humanitarian disaster in the world”.
in addition to the ceasefire for Hudaida, the war parties also agreed on a number of other measures: prisoners to be exchanged and the Oil and gas exports that occurred as a result of the conflict to a Standstill, to be resumed. The parties to the conflict agreed on the re-opening of the airport in the capital, Sanaa, which is controlled since 2014 by the Houthi rebels.
especially the Latter can be seen as a breakthrough: The Blockade of the Yemeni air space by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition is one of the causes for the humanitarian crisis in the country. However, flights should land to Sanaa in the future, for the inspection in the port city of Aden in South Yemen between, before flying to the capital. Aden is under the control of the government coalition.
Despite the positive signals coming from Sweden, Yemen’s former Vice-stays-foreign Minister Mustapha Noman, was as an observer in Rimbo present, skeptical. “I had the impression that it was not the war parties to reduce the suffering of the population,” he said on Thursday, compared to the taz. “It was just about the division of their Power. The Houthis want to keep the territories they control and the government wants to control.“
As an example Noman called the Opening of the airport of Sana’a. This is important, in order to facilitate access for humanitarian assistance. However, the government have set up the condition that travelers can book from Sanaa only Tickets, if your passport was issued in the government-controlled areas. “This is pure Schickane,” said Noman. “You want to punish the Houthis, but you’ll punish 25 million Yemenis, of which have to do with the Houthis.”
A second round of Negotiations is planned, according to the UN Secretary-General, antónio Guterres for January. “We have agreed to lead at the next Meeting talks on a framework for Negotiations.”
