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Yemeni Government Awaits UN Special Envoy’s Response on Hodeidah Plan | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Yemeni Government Spokesman Rajeh Badi. Reuters


Riyadh- The Yemeni government is still waiting for the response of UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to the proposals it has made concerning Hodeidah, mechanism of supplying its port revenues to the Central Bank and the payment of salaries.

A Yemeni government official said that Ould Cheikh did not provide any response to the plan to hand over the port of Hodeidah to a third party, under international supervision.

Yemeni Government Spokesman Rajeh Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat Tuesday that the initiative has many benefits for ensuring that port revenues reach the state treasury, consequently paying salaries of public sector employees.

The initiative would also stop weapons smuggling to coup militias in Yemen as well as end financing of arms dealers, who are still active in the black market and are dragging the country to conflicts among the Yemeni parties.

Badi referred to the tension and differences between the coup parties in Yemen, saying that what recently took place in the capital Sana’a is normal for an alliance that has been founded on the destruction of the country and lacks the right bases for the establishment of legal alliances. The skirmishes also indicate their fake intentions towards the Yemeni people.

Houthi and Saleh militias have more differences than similarities, the Yemeni government spokesman stressed, noting that observers and government officials have bet on the failure of this alliance because it is based on making personal gains and destroying Yemen.

The conflict in the capital Sana’a is prone to escalate and cause deaths among the ranks of coup leaders, Badi said, pointing out that they have never fulfilled their obligations and are not committed to any international agreements or peace treaties to avoid further conflict.

Notably, Houthi militias have carried out attacks and violations on UN and relief organizations in the period from 2015 to 2017 in the cities of Sana’a, Taiz, Hajja, Hodeidah, Ibb and Aden. They killed, kidnapped, closed outlets and offices and looted them, which confirms their efforts to block the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need.