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Yemeni Authorities Say Houthi, Saleh Dodge Serious Efforts for Brokering Peace | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Yemen’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulmalik al- Mekhlafi, Reuters


London- The Yemeni government on Monday accused Iran-backed Houthis group and other coup allies backing ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh of dodging and wasting time during previous consultations aimed at resolving the escalating crisis ravaging the country.

Accusations were reiterated at a Geneva seminar held by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulmalik Al-Makhlafi.

Mekhlafi had said during his speech at the UN General Assembly session on Yemen, that the government is ready to cooperate across all fields in order to alleviate the suffering of Yemenis.

However, he blamed the international community for indiscriminately accusing everyone of obstructing the resolution, and urged it to define the parties responsible.

The top diplomat expressed his hope that the children of Yemen receive support and the necessary assistance, especially with the spread of the phenomenon of dropping out of schools and recruiting them by the militias to participate in the war.

“The Yemeni government has made efforts to achieve a just peace, through positive and sincere participation in peace consultations, in order to reach a solution to the crisis,” Mekhlafi said in his Geneva address.

“Coupists (a coalition of Iran-aligned Houthi militias and armed loyalists backing Saleh) were not honest about their intentions on reaching a peaceful solution, and during negotiations worked on dodging and wasting time,” he said.

“We are facing a force that has no comprehension of peace, does not know what civil state stands for, and the only language they understand is that spoken by arms and power,” explained Mekhlafi.

“Houthis and Saleh backers do not present a traditional coup against authorities in power—but was an attempted overthrow against the state, its institutions and the entire social fabric,” he said.

“The intervention of the Saudi-led Arab coalition to support pro-legitimacy forces (started in March 2015), only six months after the coup waged a war, and only after having exhausting all means of dialogue with the insurgency.”

“The people of Yemen are a great people that will not be broken and will triumph in their current battle,”
he added.