© KEYSTONE/EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
The warring parties in the conflict in Yemen, which has pitted pro-government forces once morest Houthi rebels since 2014, have agreed to a two-month truce. The UN hopes that it will launch “a political process” of lasting peace.
Pro-government forces are backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, while Houthi rebels are backed by Iran. Both sides “responded positively to the UN’s proposal for a two-month truce which will come into effect tomorrow (Saturday) at 7:00 p.m.,” said Hans Grundberg, UN envoy for Yemen, in a statement.
According to him, the truce might be “renewed with the consent of the parties”. The announcement of this truce, which comes into force on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, comes following intra-Emenite consultations were held on Wednesday in Riyadh, in the absence of the rebels refusing any dialogue in “enemy” territory.
“Sincerity”
“The parties have agreed to halt all military air, land and sea offensives in Yemen and beyond its borders,” Grundberg said. They “also agreed to allow tankers to enter ports in Hodeidah province and commercial flights to operate from and to Sanaa airport, with predetermined destinations in the region”.
Only UN flights are currently allowed through the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa. The coalition controls the air and maritime space of Yemen.
Mr. Grundberg, who thanked the belligerents for having negotiated “in good faith”, added that the latter had “agreed to meet under his aegis to open roads in Taiz and other regions of Yemen”.
Hope
“The purpose of this truce is to give Yemenis a necessary stop to this violence, humanitarian assistance and hope that this conflict can end, which is most important,” he said.
“We must now use this momentum” to ensure that this truce is “fully respected and that it is renewed”, said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “It demonstrates that even when things seem impossible, when there is a will to compromise, peace becomes possible,” he added.
“I urge all parties to take the necessary steps to support a successful implementation of the truce and to operationalize without delay the cooperation mechanisms” which will make it possible to make progress, also declared Antonio Guterres.
The coalition had decreed a ceasefire on Tuesday evening from Wednesday for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the coalition’s first unilateral ceasefire since April 2020.
On Saturday, the Houthis for their part announced a three-day truce extendable under certain conditions, following having carried out sixteen attacks once morest the kingdom on Friday. On the various fronts in Yemen, the two parties had respected their ceasefire, according to witnesses on the spot.
Hundreds of thousands dead
After seven years of intervention in Yemen, the coalition has failed to dislodge Houthi rebels from the north of the country, whom they have largely wrested from the government, starting with the capital Sanaa captured in 2014. The rebels have taken the control of most of the north of the country, the poorest in the Arabian Peninsula.
According to the UN, the conflict has caused the death of nearly 380,000 people, the majority of them indirect deaths linked to hunger, disease and lack of drinking water, while millions more have been displaced. . A large part of the population, especially children, is facing acute hunger, with situations close to famine.