Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said that the new round of Yemeni consultations in the Swiss city of Geneva on Thursday will focus on confidence-building between warring parties.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat said that if the Iran-backed Houthis move forward with these measures, then there will be hope to continue these consultations to achieve sustainable peace and a complete end of Tehran’s interference in Yemeni affairs.
He added that the government delegation is prepared to go beyond Geneva to alleviate the suffering of the people at the hands of the Houthis.
Yamani said that the aim of going to Geneva is to find ways for restoring stability and ending the suffering.
He pointed out that consultations will discuss freeing Houthi-held prisoners and safely returning them to their families.
The international community had sent strong messages to the militias on the pressing need for cooperation when it comes to humanitarian relief affairs, Yamani added.
For its part, the freely elected government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi is closely working with UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths on humanitarian affairs, he continued.
He said that the problems in the humanitarian file stem from “dealing with militias that are unaware of the extent of damage they inflict on Yemenis and the extent of the present humanitarian disaster.”
Furthermore, the minister stressed that the militias do not control their own fate and are mostly pawns of Iranian ambitions for regional hegemony.
Yamani also disclosed the government’s 14-member delegation that will attend Thursday’s UN-sponsored consultations, while the Houthis have not yet revealed their participants.
The government delegation will be headed by Yamani and include presidential office director Abdullah al-Alimi and presidential advisor Yassin Makkawi, government sources said.
