Aden-Yemen’s ambassador to the United Nations, Khalid Hussein al-Yamani said that that the Yemeni government is hoping that the rebels commit to the ceasefire, which has started on Sunday amidst news about some breaches by Houthi militias and forces loyal to the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
He considered that committing to ceasefire leads to the success of peace efforts, which will be discussed in the second round of talks in Kuwait, next week.
Al-Yamani confirmed in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Yemeni government will participate in the peace talks in Kuwait, which are under the auspices of the United Nations and are supervised by the special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
He also said that these talks are continuation for the recent consultations, which were held in Switzerland in December, pointing out that the resolutions of these consultations were not implemented by the insurgents.
The resolution of Biel talks included confidence-building measures, such as releasing the detainees, prioritized by the Minister of Defense Col. Mahmoud Salem al-Subaihi and lifting the siege on cities, especially Taiz, in order to send humanitarian aid to the besieged citizens.
Although rebels have chosen not to abide by the resolutions and pledges issued by the international community, the government will participate in Kuwait’s talks since this government aims to establish peace and provide stability and security for the citizens instead of waging wars and destructing the country’s cities, Al-Yamani said.
He affirmed that his country’s government is keen to cooperate with the United Nations and its special envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in order to hold talks in Kuwait.
Khalid al-Yamani called the rebels to feel the pain civilians are suffering due to Saleh’s coup, as they humanitarian situation in Yemen’s cities is becoming worse day after day.
The ambassador stressed on the importance of the international community’s stance supporting the Yemeni government and putting effort to bring peace and stability to Yemen.
He said that rebels have to let go of their coup, withdraw from the cities, hand in heavy weaponries to the state, and let the legislative government resume practicing its authority before bringing up the resumption of the political operation.
He also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Kuwait talks came within the implementation of the UN resolution 2216 by the rebels, whom he sent a wakeup call to realize that the Iranian influence and expansion project in Yemen has been put to an end.
Al-Yamani affirmed that Iran is still sending weapons to the Houthi militias, stating that some of them have been seized recently by the US and French Navy in the Arabian Sea.
The Yemeni ambassador pointed out that the international community, and precisely the United Nations and its organizations are responsible for watching closely the situation and developments through the Iran Sanctions Committee and the sanctions committee specialized for the obstruction of the political settlement in Yemen.
He mentioned that the Yemeni diplomacy is working in line with the Gulf and Arab Diplomacy in the International Security Council in order to condemn the Iranian sectarian actions that aim at sparking chaos in the region by backing sectarian tensions.