Aden- Yemeni Minister of Human Rights Dr. Mohammad Askar stressed the importance of achieving permanent peace based on clear references and foundations.

“The Gulf initiative and its mechanisms, outcomes of the national dialogue and the Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution 2216” are the most important references, Askar told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Meanwhile, UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is discussing in Sana’a with Houthis and Saleh militias the need to achieve peace in line with a plan based on the need to spare Hodeida and its port any military operation.

The Yemeni Minister said that insurgents “won’t give up Hodeida port, which is considered the first place for the introduction of Iranian weapons and the collection of revenues in favor of what they call the war effort.”

Askar called on the United Nations to benefit from all the national and international expertise to manage the port of Hodeida, considering that it will help deliver humanitarian aid and prevent smuggling arms and military equipment.”

“We, the legitimate government, under the leadership of President Abed Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who holds Yemen’s federal project, want peace now and not tomorrow to dedicate ourselves to reconstruction and building our future away from war and destruction,” he said.

The Yemeni Minister’s statements come at a time when the UN Special Envoy to Yemen is discussing with the two coup parties the peace process that includes three main points, mainly saving Hodeida any military operation.

In this regard, Ould Cheikh said: “I have three missions to discuss with Houthi officials, including reviving peace talks and seeking truce before Ramadan, inspecting humanitarian health situations and finding peaceful ways to avert Hodeida port from attack.”

He was speaking to reporters at Sana’a airport.