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UN mediator Martin Griffiths greets a member of the Yemeni delegation at the Stockholm meeting on December 6, 2018. Fuente / Reuters
The Yemeni government on Friday (December 7th) threatened to launch a military offensive to free the port of Hodeida, the main point of entry for humanitarian aid into Yemen, if the rebels refuse to withdraw spontaneously. Belligerents (Saudi-backed government and Iran-backed rebels) are meeting for the first time since 2016 to resume dialogue and try to end a conflict that has killed at least 10,000 people since 2014 and precipitated 14 million people on the verge of starvation.
There are officially no prerequisites for these consultations facilitated by the signing this week of an agreement on the exchange of thousands of prisoners. But each side threatens to break the dialogue if its demands are not satisfied. In particular, the government demands the complete withdrawal of the rebels from the strategic port of Hodeïda (west), which was won in 2014.
" We are currently in negotiations in response to calls from the international community, the UN and the UN mediator. We continue to study ways to achieve peace, "the agriculture minister told reporters on the sidelines of the talks. " But if they (the rebels) are not constructive, we have many options, including military intervention, " Othman al-Mujalli added.
The Houthi rebels on their side are demanding the reopening of the airport of the capital Sanaa - which they control since 2014 - to the civil traffic. They threatened Thursday to close it also to UN planes. The international airport was closed to civilian commercial traffic after the military intervention in 2015 of a pro-government coalition led by Saudi Arabia that controls from the airspace.
The consultations in Sweden opened on Thursday under the aegis of UN mediator Martin Griffiths of Britain , who hailed a "unique opportunity" to bring the belligerents back on the road to peace.
( with AFP )