The Saudi Arabian-led coalition yesterday said it approved evacuating wounded Houthi fighters from Yemen for treatment, meeting a main condition for the group to attend UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden this week aimed at ending the nearly four-year-old war.
Prospects for convening talks have increased as Western allies press Saudi Arabia, leader of the Sunni Muslim alliance battling the Iranian-aligned Houthis, over a war that has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
The peace talks might start tomorrow, two sources familiar with the matter said, after UN special envoy Martin Griffiths shuttled between the parties to salvage a previous round that collapsed in September after the Houthis failed to show up.
Photo: Reuters
Griffiths was scheduled to arrive in Sana’a yesterday, a UN source said, as pressure mounted to reopen the city’s international airport after a three-year shutdown.
He was expected to hold talks with rebel leaders, a UN source told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.
The source said the reopening of the airport, controlled by the rebels and largely destroyed by Saudi-led air raids, was a priority at the planned peace talks.
Western powers, which provide arms and intelligence to the coalition, might have greater leverage to demand action on Yemen after outrage over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, led to increased scrutiny of the kingdom’s activities in the region.
The US Senate is due to consider this week a resolution to end support for the conflict, which is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The coalition agreed for a UN commercial plane to transport 50 wounded Houthis from the Houthi-held capital Sana’a to Oman for treatment “for humanitarian considerations and as part of confidence-building measures” ahead of the talks, spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a statement.
The Houthis had also set as a condition to travel to Sweden that their plane not be inspected by the coalition. They have agreed to travel on a plane provided by Kuwait, one source said.
The Saudi-backed government has said it would follow the Houthis for the consultations, the first since 2016, which are also due to focus on a transitional governing body.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it backs the talks and was ready to help find a political solution, Iranian state TV reported yesterday.
“If the parties actually turn up in Sweden ... that in itself must be considered progress, even if there are no concrete outcomes,” said Elisabeth Kendall, a senior research fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Oxford University.
“Neither side wishes to be blamed for the dire consequences of the looming famine, which is starting to become a reality,” she said. “But it remains to be seen whether the political will is really there to make the necessary concessions for peace.”
About 8.4 million Yemenis are facing starvation, although the UN has warned that will likely rise to 14 million. Three-quarters of Yemen’s population, or 22 million people, require aid.
Additional reporting by AFP
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