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UN pushes for truce and aid at Yemen talks
RIMBO, Sweden, Dec 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – With 24 hours left before the
scheduled close of UN-brokered talks on Yemen, mediators pushed Wednesday for
a truce between warring parties as a crucial step to allow aid deliveries.
Mediators are seeking a de-escalation of violence in two flashpoint cities:
rebel-held Hodeida, a port city vital to the supply of humanitarian aid, and
Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, scene of some of the war’s most intense
fighting.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was due in Rimbo late Wednesday for
Thursday’s closing round of consultations.
Both government and rebel representatives traded accusations of
unwillingness to negotiate, particularly on rebel-held Hodeida, the main
route for 90 percent of food imports and nearly 80 percent of aid deliveries.
Multiple draft proposals have been submitted to the two delegations over
the past week. None have found consensus as yet.
“I think there is some progress, even if it’s with much difficulty. It’s
slow progress,” rebel representative Abdelmalik al-Ajri told AFP. “We are
faced with the intransigence of the other side.
“Things should become clearer today.”
Askar Zaeel, a member of the government delegation, said his camp would
hold firm to UN Security Council Resolution 2216 — which calls for the
Huthis to withdraw from all areas seized in a 2014 takeover, including
Hodeida.
The Yemen conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people since the Saudi-led
coalition joined the war in 2015, according to the World Health Organization,
triggering what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Both parties stand accused of failing to protect civilians. The Saudi-led
alliance has been blacklisted by the UN for the killing and maiming of
children.
Guterres’ arrival comes hours after his office said it had evidence the
Huthis were using Iran-made missiles.
The Gulf monarchies and United States accuse Iran of supporting Huthi
rebels — and see this as justification for the military campaign they have
waged in Yemen since 2015.
Iran supports the rebels politically but denies supplying them with arms.
BSS/AFP/RY/1720 hrs