The Yemeni legitimate government agreed on Monday to participate in the upcoming peace consultations, scheduled for Sweden before the end of the month.
Culture Minister Marwan Dammaj hoped that the Iran-backed Houthi militias will attend the talks without placing any preconditions as they did during the last round.
The last round was held in Geneva in September, but they failed after the Houthis made demands that were not met. This prompted their no-show at the consultations, dooming them to fail.
Dammaj added to Asharq Al-Awsat that Yemen rejects western attempts that are trying to transform the country into an arena to “appease Iran” at the expense of the Yemeni people and their national interest.
He added that western powers are showing interest in the Yemen conflict because they want to exploit it to exert pressure on Saudi Arabia and achieve their interests.
He condemned such motives, saying they are part of a greater agenda to “divide Arabs along sectarian and tribal lines.”
“Such an agenda will cripple the Arab nation and lead it to constantly remain dependent on the West and major powers,” he explained.
Moreover, Dammaj rejected attempts to exploit the humanitarian file in Yemen for political purposes, criticizing western double standards in implementing UN Security Council resolutions.
The Yemeni foreign ministry confirmed that “the government has informed the UN envoy to Yemen... that it will send a government delegation to the talks with the aim of reaching a political solution.”
It hoped that the solution will be based on the Gulf initiative, national dialogue outcomes and UN Security Council resolution 2216.
Meanwhile, the Houthi militias did not declare an open agreement to attend the Sweden talks.
Head of the militias’ so-called Higher Revolutionary Committee Mohammed Ali al-Houthi did announce that the militias will stop firing rockets and launching drones in compliance with UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths’ request.
Soon after he made his announcement, however, field sources in the Yemeni army said that they had detected a Houthi ballistic missile attack towards the liberated Midi directorate in northwestern Hajjah.
The sources said the attack demonstrated the Houthis’ disregard for any alleged truce.
