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Ahram Online
The Yemeni Houthi militia voiced on Wednesday, its dissatisfaction of an unclear Saudi Arabian response to a three-day ceasefire offer. The ceasefire offer was announced last Saturday ahead of the Yemeni consultation talks which began in Riyadh on Wednesday and are scheduled to run until 7 April.
However, the Houthis, who refused to attend the talks, expressed their openness to “any positive response” related to the war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. “There will be no resolution to the conflict without the lifting of the siege on Yemen”, the Houthis reiterated in their Wednesday statement. They added that they “reserve the right to take any political and military measures deemed necessary”.
On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition announced a ceasefire in all military operations in Yemen starting on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia said the decision expresses hope to create positive climate for the peace consultations on Yemen.
“The invitation which was extended to the Houthi militia to participate in the consultations remains on the table”, Al-Arabiya quoted Abdulaziz al-Owaishek, GCC assistant secretary for political affairs and negotiations as saying on Thursday.
Peace talks are held in attendance of the United Nations’ envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and representatives from the Yemeni warring parties.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. Since 2016, the coalition has been enforcing an air and sea blockade of rebel-held territory of Yemen.
The Yemen war has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people and the displaced millions. The United Nations had labelled the conflict as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
