The warring parties in the conflict in Yemen, which has pitted pro-government forces against Houthi rebels since 2014, have agreed to a two-month truce starting on Saturday, with the possibility of extending it, the United Nations announced on Friday. Yemeni pro-government forces have been backed for seven years by a Saudi-led military coalition, while Houthi rebels are backed by Iran.
“The belligerents have responded positively to the United Nations proposal for a two-month truce which will come into effect tomorrow (Saturday) April 2 at 7 p.m.,” Hans Grundberg, UN envoy for Yemen, said in a statement. , adding that it could be “renewed with the consent of the parties”. The announcement of this truce, which comes into force on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, comes after intra-Emenite consultations were held on Wednesday in Riyadh, in the absence of Houthi rebels refusing any dialogue in “enemy” territory.
“The parties have agreed to halt all air, land and sea military offensives in Yemen and beyond its borders,” Hans Grundberg said. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called during a meeting with journalists to “use this momentum” so that this truce is “fully respected and renewed”.
Negotiations “in good faith”, according to the UN
“The parties have also agreed to allow tankers to enter ports in Hodeidah province and commercial flights to operate from and to Sanaa airport, with predetermined destinations in the region,” it said. United Nations special envoy. Only UN flights are currently allowed through the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, while Hodeidah is the only region in Yemen to be subject to a demilitarization agreement, signed under the aegis of the United Nations in 2018. The port of the eponymous city is essential for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Hans Grundberg, who thanked the belligerents for having negotiated “in good faith”, added that the latter had “agreed to meet under his aegis to open roads to Taiz and other regions of Yemen”. “The purpose of this truce is to give Yemenis a necessary stop to this violence, humanitarian assistance and hope that this conflict can end, which is most important,” he said.
US President Joe Biden has “welcomed” the agreement, which according to him offers “a long-awaited respite to the population”, but judges that “it is not enough”: “the negotiators must take the difficult and necessary step towards a political compromise that can bring lasting peace to all the people of Yemen. »
On Saturday, the Houthis for their part announced a three-day truce extendable under certain conditions, after having carried out sixteen attacks against Saudi Arabia on Friday. And the following day, Saudi Arabia bombarded areas controlled by the Houthis, notably in Sanaa and Hodeidah, before decreeing a ceasefire on Tuesday evening from Wednesday for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the first unilateral coalition ceasefire since April 2020.
An exchange of prisoners “still under study”
Last week, the Houthis announced an agreement to release 1,400 prisoners held by the government against 823 held by the insurgents, including the brother of Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The person in charge of this file on the government side, Hadi Haig, had however specified that the agreement was “still under study”. After seven years of intervention, the coalition, which controls Yemen’s air and sea space, has failed to dislodge Houthi rebels from the north of the country, which they have largely snatched from the government, starting with the capital. Sanaa taken in 2014.
President Joe Biden on Friday “welcomed” the agreement reached between the belligerents in Yemen on a two-month truce which according to him offers “a long-awaited respite for the population”, but judges that “it is not enough”.
According to the UN, the conflict has caused the death of nearly 380,000 people, the majority of them linked to hunger, disease and lack of drinking water, while millions more have been displaced. A large part of the population, especially children, is facing acute hunger, with situations close to famine.