DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The UN envoy for
Yemen scrambled Monday to revive a six-month truce after a
missed deadline raised fears of a return to war and prompted rebel threats
against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
اضافة اعلان
Special envoy Hans Grundberg pledged “relentless
efforts” to reinvigorate the truce, which lapsed on Sunday after bringing a
sharp reduction in clashes since it came into force in April.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been fighting a
Saudi-led pro-government coalition since 2015 in a war that has left hundreds
of thousands dead and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis according
to the UN.
Grundberg’s plan to extend the truce — which was
initially set to last two months and was renewed twice, to half a year — and to
broaden it to new areas of agreement was rejected by the Houthis.
His proposal included paying civil servants’
salaries, opening routes into the rebel-blockaded city of Taez, expanding
commercial flights from the rebel-held capital Sanaa and allowing more fuel
ships into the port of Hodeida, also controlled by the Houthis.
It also contained commitments to release detainees,
resume an “inclusive” political process and tackle economic issues including
public services.
But the northern-based Houthis, who seized Sanaa in
2014 and control large swathes of the Arabian peninsula’s poorest country, said
the proposal “does not live up to the demands of the Yemeni people and does not
establish the peace process”.
“The Yemeni people will not be deceived by false
promises,” the Supreme Political Council said, demanding revenues from Yemen’s
oil and gas resources, according to the
Houthis’ Yemen News Agency.
Elisabeth Kendall, Middle East expert at Cambridge
University, said there was still hope for a deal.
“There may still be a chance for the truce to be
resurrected. It may simply be that the warring actors are jockeying for
position by allowing the deadline to pass,” she told AFP.
“But I think the most we can hope for at this stage
is another interim measure rather than the expanded six-month truce that the UN
was seeking.”
Sporadic clashes
Aid groups have raised the
alarm for the long-suffering people of Yemen, including 23.4 million Yemenis
who are dependent on humanitarian aid.
“Over the past six months, the truce had given
millions of people in Yemen respite from fighting and hope for a more lasting
settlement of the conflict,” said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
“We call on all parties to keep the dialogue open
and put the needs of the Yemeni people first.”
As well as fighting on the ground, hostilities have
been marked by coalition bombing raids and rebel drone-and-missile attacks on
oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, a major partner in the anti-Houthi
alliance.
The Houthis’ military spokesman
Yahya Saree warned
oil companies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE “to organize their situation and
leave”, in a tweet late on Sunday.
There was no immediate word from Riyadh or Abu
Dhabi, but Yemen’s internationally recognized government, via a tweet from its
Washington embassy, urged the UN Security Council to deal “firmly” with the
Houthis over their “latest threats” and refusal to extend the truce.
Grundberg, who has shuttled between Sanaa and Oman,
which was acting as a moderator, said he will “continue to work with both sides
to try and find solutions”.
“Ultimately, Yemenis need an end to the conflict
through an inclusive political process and a negotiated settlement,” he added.
“I will continue my relentless efforts to engage
with the parties to quickly reach an agreement on a way forward.”
As Yemen’s fate remained unclear, government sources
reported attacks by the Houthis south of Marib, the government’s last northern
stronghold and key to Yemen’s oil resources.
Houthi shelling was also reported in Taez, Yemen’s
third biggest city, which has been blockaded by the rebels since 2016. Sporadic
clashes have continued even during the truce period.
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