ZCZC
BFF-30
YEMEN-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY-LEAD
Yemen govt, rebels lash out as peace talks set to open
RIMBO, Sweden, Dec 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Yemen’s government and rebels
doubled down on their rival demands Thursday, just moments before hard-won
peace talks were due to open in Sweden under the auspices of the United
Nations.
A top Huthi rebel official threatened Thursday to bar UN planes from using
the Yemeni capital’s airport unless peace talks in Sweden lead to its full
reopening.
“If the Yemeni capital’s airport is not opened to the Yemeni people in the
peace talks in Sweden, I call on the (rebel) political council and government
to close the airport for all planes,” Mohammed Ali al-Huthi tweeted.
The Yemeni government hit back, demanding the rebels withdraw from the
flashpoint port city of Hodeida.
Yemen’s foreign ministry demanded the “coupist militias withdraw fully from
the western coast and hand the area over to the legitimate government” via
Twitter — a reference to rebel-held Hodeida, home to Yemen’s most valuable
port.
The Sweden talks mark the first attempt in two years to broker an end to
the Yemen conflict, which has killed at least 10,000 people since 2015 and
triggered what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Some 14 million people are at imminent risk of starvation in Yemen,
according to UN estimates, as a Saudi-led military coalition continues to
battle the country’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
BSS/AFP/RY/1520 hrs