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Key player UAE backs new Yemen peace talks
DUBAI, Sept 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The United Arab Emirates, whose troops are
fighting Yemeni rebels alongside government forces, said Wednesday it would
fully support new peace talks after UN-brokered negotiations broke down
earlier this month.
UAE state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said he had had “very
productive discussions” with UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths on the sidelines
of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“Reaffirmed strong support for UN-led political process after Geneva
setback,” Gargash tweeted. “Will fully support UN proposals for new talks
soon.”
The UN envoy has been shuttling between all sides in the devastating civil
war that has killed nearly 10,000 people in Yemen since March 2015 in a bid
to get peace talks back on track.
Planned negotiations in Geneva broke down on September 8 after rebel
delegates refused to show up until they received guarantees that they would
be able to fly home afterwards.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia and their allies have enforced an air and sea
blockade of rebel-held areas of Yemen since they intervened in March 2015
when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into exile.
On September 9, government and UAE troops resumed their deadly offensive on
the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida after a brief suspension while the UN
attempted to convene peace talks.
The assault on the port city was the trigger for the new peace push.
Hodeida is the point of entry for UN aid shipments and also handles 70
percent of commercial shipping, and the UN warned of a humanitarian
catastrophe if the port were put out of use.
Hadi, whose government is recognised by the international community even
though the rebels control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, was due to
address the UN General Assembly later on Wednesday.
The civil war has pushed Yemen, long the Arab world’s poorest country, to
the brink of famine.
Human rights groups warned last week that more than five million
malnourished children face imminent starvation.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1324 hrs