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Persons of the Year 2018

Yemen Peace Makers

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani and rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdelsalam shake hands next to Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström and UN chief Antonio Guterres, Photo by Pontus Lundahl-TT	Martin Griffiths, UN Envoy, who played a major role in bringing Yemenis for talks in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday Dec 10, 2018

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Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, December 16, 2018

 

The five persons of the Year 2018 were the Yemen peace makers. There were the UN Envoy, Martin Griffths, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallström, the Yemeni Foreign Minister, Khaled al-Yamani, and the Opposition representative, Mohammed Abdelsalam.

Hopefully, their initial success in Stockholm will continue to put an end to the war, which devastated Yemen and starved the innocent Yemeni people.

Hail to the Peace Makers!

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Ceasefire for key Yemen port agreed at peace talks in Sweden: UN

The Local, Sweden, December 13, 2018

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday announced a series of breakthroughs in talks with rivals in the Yemen conflict, including a ceasefire for a vital port.

The Yemeni foreign minister and the rebel leader shook hands in a highly symbolic gesture on the seventh day of the UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden.

The conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 14 million Yemenis now at the brink of mass starvation.

Guterres, who flew in to Sweden late on Wednesday, announced that the Yemeni government and Huthi rebels had agreed on a ceasefire in the port of Hodeida, the main entry point for imported food and aid.

He said the United Nations would play a “leading role” at the Red Sea port, which is currently controlled by the rebels.

In addition, the rivals have reached a “mutual understanding” on Yemen’s third city of Taiz, the scene of some of the most intense battles in the conflict.

He said a new round of talks would take place at the end of January.

International pressure has been mounting to halt the fighting between the Iran-linked Huthis and the government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia and its military allies, with the US Senate, Saudi Arabia and the UAE honing in on the fragile talks.

The warring parties have been in the rural Swedish village of Rimbo for a week to try to hammer out agreement on a number of key issues.

A source inside the talks had said earlier that mediators remained “positive” although there was “disagreement on the points of the proposals”.

The rebels control both the Red Sea port of Hodeida and the capital Sanaa. The Saudi-led military coalition controls Yemen’s maritime borders and airspace.

Guterres did not immediately refer to any deal on Sanaa airport, which has been closed to commercial flights for nearly three years.

Top diplomats in last-minute push

Guterres flew into Sweden late on Wednesday to attend the closing session, which had been pushed back two hours from its announced time on Thursday.

The foreign ministers of Britain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia announced they were also in Rimbo for the last day of negotiations.

Britain’s Jeremy Hunt notably met with both the government and rebels at the talks.

UN special envoy Martin Griffiths, who brokered the talks, was expected to brief the Security Council on Yemen on Friday.

Anger at the human cost of the war, as well as outrage over the killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, have prompted a harder line in the international community over the Yemen war, and particularly the role of the Saudi-led coalition.

The US Senate on Wednesday voted to advance a resolution that ends US backing for the Saudi-led intervention by 60 votes to 39, with 11 Republicans joining Democrats to back the measure.

The final vote is expected to take place on Thursday. However, if the upper house approves the resolution, it is likely to run aground in the lower House of Representatives where Republicans hold the majority until January 3rd.

Both the rebels and government alliance stand accused of failing to protect civilians. The UN last year blacklisted the Saudi-led coalition for the killing and maiming of children in air raids.

The Sweden talks mark the first meeting in two years between the northern Huthi rebels and the Hadi government that has been backed since 2015 by the Saudi-led coalition.

The last round of talks, hosted by Kuwait in 2016, collapsed after more than three months of negotiations with no breakthrough.

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UN Yemen mission to rush to Hodeidah to oversee ceasefire

Monitors will speed to pivotal port city amid anxiety over fragility of surprise truce

Bethan McKernan Middle East correspondent

Fri 14 Dec 2018, The Guardian -

A small-scale UN monitoring mission will rush to the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah next week to oversee a ceasefire, the UN special envoy for Yemen has told diplomats in New York.

A fragile truce was secured after week-long negotiations in Sweden, the first Yemen peace talks since 2016.

The special envoy, Martin Griffiths, hopes a UN security resolution, drafted by the UK, will endorse the agreements reached in Stockholm including the need for a UN body to supervise the port’s administration and mutual troop withdrawals.

Speaking by a video link to the security council in New York, Griffiths said: “A robust and competent monitoring regime is not just essential, it is also urgently needed and both parties have told us they would very much welcome it and indeed depend on it.”

'Yemenis are left so poor they kill themselves before the hunger does'

Griffiths said the retired Dutch major general Patrick Cammaert had agreed to lead the monitoring component of the agreement, which took effect on Thursday when the deal was published.

He said Cammaert could arrive in the region within days. “Being present in the field soon is an essential part of the confidence that needs to go with the implementation of this agreement,” Griffiths said.

The speed with which the two sides in Stockholm reached agreement on the ceasefire was a pleasant surprise for diplomats, but as a result many potential pitfalls remain and need clarification if the deal is not to collapse before the next round of talks in Kuwait in late January.

The agreements leave unclear whether the customs revenues from the Hodeidah port are to go to the Yemen central bank in Aden run by the Hadi government, or instead to remain with Houthis’ banks. The Stockholm talks failed to reach a deal on the reunification of central banks, and it has been the state of economy, including inflation, as much as absence of food that has been driving famine.

Similarly, details about the security force to run the city after the mutual troop withdrawals are unclear, but western diplomats are hoping the two rivals will set up a joint force. Plans for the transfer of maps showing the location of mines, IEDs, and booby traps may also prove a stumbling block.

“Hodeidah is the litmus test for the Sweden talks,” said the analyst Hisham al-Omeisy. “The parties have agreed to withdraw to the city limits and for a reorganisation of military units and local security forces. But this is Yemen and nothing is that simple.

“For example, the Houthis have recruited a lot of locals in the city. Are they supposed to vacate their homes now? The wording of the agreements has been purposefully vague to get the parties to agree, but it’s going to be very hard to gauge what success will be like as a result.”

The Red Sea city is home to 600,000 people – half of whom are children, according to Unicef – and is a vital aid lifeline for the rest of the country, which is facing the prospect of famine.

Despite sporadic gunfire and shelling on the city’s northern and eastern outskirts overnight on Thursday, Hodeidah was largely calm by Friday morning, residents said.

“It’s been quieter the last few days and now the weekend has started, absolutely nothing,” Ibrahim Seif said. “We have to wait and see if it will stay this way. God knows we need it.”

“We are happy about the ceasefire but are worried that the fighters will not abide by it,” Iman Azzi, a teacher, told Reuters. “The war has destroyed us. We want to live.”

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The following news stories are from the pro-Houthi website Yemen Extra (http://www.yemenextra.net/):

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Cease-Fire an Encouraging Positive Step in the Western Coast: UNICEF

Dec 15, 2018, YemenExtra, SH.A.

Quoted from the official Saba News Agency, United National Children’s’ Emergency organization on Friday said that the Yemen Peace Consultations and the agreement on a ceasefire in Hodeidah province is a new glimmer of hope for the children of Yemen.

Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said this positive step in Hodeidah, we hope that it will lead to a comprehensive peace.

She added there are 11 million child from all Yemeni provinces need humanitarian assistance among them 400 child suffering from famine which threatens them with death.

“A real and lasting peace must be reached as soon as possible” said Henrietta Fore.

She added in this way safe the life of children and citizens and it will help ensure humanitarian access to Yemen.

Since 2015, thousands of civilians, mostly children and women have been killed by Saudi airstrikes. Reports say that the Saudi-led coalition is committing daily crimes in Yemen.

Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is the most important story in the world, but because its victims are poor and practically invisible to the rest of the world their stories are mostly unheard and then ignored even when they are told.

Griffiths’ Remarks Confirm that “Riyadh is Obstructing Peace Efforts Organised by UN”

Dec 15, 2018, YemenExtra, SH.A.

United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said that the national delegation representing the Supreme Political Council of Yemen has agreed to the general framework agreement which is meant to end the crisis in Yemen. However, the delegation of the Saudi-backed Hadi regime has so far refused, according to Griffiths.

The move came during a briefing by the UN Envoy to the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Observers said that Griffiths’ remarks on the so-called “legitimate government” that is the exiled Hadi regime, is a clear sign that Riyadh is obstructing the peace efforts organised by the UN.

Analysts also stated that the briefing of the UN on Friday evening gave a lot of clarity about some cases, especially compared to earlier briefings to the Security Council.

On his Twitter page after the end of consultations round held by Sweden between the national delegation and the delegation of Riyadh, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, Head of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, praised the role of the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith in order to bring peace to the country before starving it.

Since 2015, thousands of civilians, mostly children and women have been killed by Saudi airstrikes. Reports say that the Saudi-led coalition is committing daily crimes in Yemen.

What are the steps taken to achieve peace in Yemen-Report

Dec 14, 2018, YemenExtra, M.A.

Written by: Issac Ali

Yemen has been under a Saudi-led military campaign since March 2015, where thousands of Yemenis have been killed or injured, mainly by Saudi bombs that have struck schools, markets, hospitals, funerals, and infrastructure. In addition, millions of Yemenis have been forced to leave their homes due to clashes near or within residential areas. The war has also triggered epidemics, such as cholera and diphtheria, which has killed thousands of civilians. However, what now threatens the impoverished country the most is starvations. According to the United Nations, the country is now on the brink of famine and that about 14 million Yemeni is in a vital need for humanitarian aid, or they might starve to death!

On Thursday, two major events occurred regarding the Yemeni case, one is the conclusion day Yemen peace talks in Sweden, which is considered to be the most progressive talks Yemen has ever had since the beginning of the war. The second is the US declaration of ending its support for the Saudi-led aggression over Yemen.

Outcomes of Yemen peace talks in Sweden

Last Thursday, after seven days of consultations, was the results day of the talks held in Sweden between the warring parties, which was participated by the secretary general of the UN, António Guterres and many official figures from different parts of the world.

Antonio Guterres declared an agreement between both rivals regarding the port city of Yemen’s Hodeidah, which states a ceasefire on the province, which the Houthis now control.

“There is a ceasefire declared for the whole governorate of Hudaydah in the agreement and there will be both from the city and the harbor a withdrawal of all forces,” Guterres said, adding that after the pullout, the UN would begin facilitating aid access to the civilian population.

The port within Hodeidah is considered the most vital source of imports for the country, where more than %70 of all imports go through. However, the province has been under full siege since June by the Saudi-led coalition, who launched an offensive operation against the port city and has been trying to take control of for over a year but failed to do so.

Within the first days of the consultations, the Riyadh-backed side demanded the withdrawal of Houthis (Ansar Allah) from the city so it can take control of it; however, the head of Ansar Allah delegation said that Hodeidah must be kept neutral from any hostilities.

Griffiths, for his part, said on Thursday that the pullout of all forces should take place “within days.” He is due to brief the UN Security Council on Yemen on Friday.

The international airport of Sanaa was a tough issue during peace talks. Houthis control the airport, but it went out of service for over three years because the Saudi-led coalition controls Yemen’s maritime border and airspace.

The issue regarding Sanaa airport will be discussed within the next consultations that are expected to be held at the end of January 2019, according to the UN chief.

“It’s clear and it’s public knowledge that starting point is opening up to commercial flights, maybe domestic at first, and eventually (international),” he added.

There have been other breakthroughs during Sweden’s consultations, including an agreement to a prisoner swap and “mutual understanding” on Yemen’s third city of Ta’izz, another hotspot in the war-ravaged country and the scene of some of the most intense clashes between the rivals.

The Senate votes to halt US support over the Saudi-led war on Yemen

US senates voted on Thursday to end Trump administration military aid for Saudi Arabia over the war on Yemen.

The outcomes of the Senate vote were 60-39 to advance a resolution for further debate and a later vote in the chamber.

This is one of the strongest moments of bipartisan defiance against President Trump’s defense of the kingdom over the killing of a dissident journalist, in which Republican senators joined the Democrats to provide the 60 votes needed for the resolution to advance.

The joint resolution, which was introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), calls on Trump to stop US armed forces from supporting Saudi Arabia in its military campaign in Yemen.

Majority leader Mitch McConnell’s was against this vote and cheered other to block this measure for he argues that it is ”too broad”. However, the resolution passed.

The Senate has gone against Trump’s desires for defending the de facto ruler of the kingdom Mohammed bin Salman, even though he is now officially responsible, according to passed resolution by the Senate for the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its military adventurism in Yemen.

The Saudi -led coalition intervention on Yemen initially consisted of an aerial campaign but was later coupled with a naval and aerial blockade, in addition to deploying ground mercenaries on the ground. Furthermore, armed militia forces loyal to Hadi, in line with invaders, launch frequent attacks against Yemeni people in regions held by Houthis.

Since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen, the Yemeni army, backed by fighters from Houthi Ansarullah movement, has been defending the impoverished nation against the invaders. The coalition is also resolute to crush the movement as another goal in its war on Yemen, which is teetering on the edge of famine.

According to a report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi war has left 56,000 Yemenis dead.

Riyadh had declared at the start of the invasion that the war would take no more than a couple of weeks, but it on the way of entering its fourth year.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

This post originally ran on Yamanyoon

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