Rival sides in Yemen have resumed peace negotiations to reach an agreement to end the years-long war in the country. Senior Houthi (Ansarullah) leader and member of the Supreme Political Bureau, Ali Al-Qahoum, stated that the peace talks, which are being brokered by the neighboring country of Oman, have been restarted, weeks after they collapsed over a number of economic, humanitarian, and other issues. The talks had first been initiated in the month of April this year but didn’t last long before breaking down. Despite there being progress and a number of confidence-building measures such as prisoner swaps, the talks were suspended just two months later in July.
In his statement, Al-Qahoum expressed satisfaction and optimism regarding the ongoing negotiations, in addition to praising the Omani contribution to mediate and promote peace between the two warring sides. He further confirmed that “good progress in some humanitarian files has been made, specifically through continuing to discuss the disbursement of salaries to all Yemenis, from the revenues of the national wealth of gas and oil, and finding sustainable mechanisms to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.” These were among the issues which led to the breakdown of talks in July. Other important issues that the two sides still have to resolve include the lifting of the Saudi blockade on the port of Hodeidah, reopening of the Sanaa airport, and sharing of Yemeni oil revenues with the Houthis, among others.
He went on to implore Saudi Arabia, which he said was leading the aggression and violence in Yemen in the past, to turn peacemaker, adding that “this matter is in its [Saudi] interest and the interest of the region and Yemen,” and that “Saudi Arabia must take into account the two countries’ mutual interests, move from the position of the aggressor to that of a friend, build equal strategic relations [with Yemen], and let go of past dreams and its dark vision, which led Saudi Arabia to [lead] the aggression against the country.” He also expressed hope that peace in Yemen will be welcomed by all neighboring Arab and Islamic countries, make Saudi Arabia among the “world’s influential forces” geopolitically and wean it away from its historic US dependence and reliance.
Yemen has been ravaged by war and civil conflict since 2014, when the Houthis drove the Saudi and West-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa, along with most of northern Yemen. The following year, the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, comprising several other Arab and Gulf countries, launched a military invasion into Yemen with the objective of defeating the Houthis and restoring the Yemeni government back to power.
Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have been killed, mostly civilians, as a result of the violence and fighting, with tens of millions being wounded, internally displaced, and made dependent on international humanitarian assistance for their daily survival.
In the past, the two warring sides tried to find a resolution to end the conflict in talks brokered by the United Nations and other parties, but despite significant advances such as a six month-long ceasefire, those talks fizzled out. These latest talks have given many new hope for a permanent resolution to once and for all end the war and conflict.
