The Yemeni government’s talks with UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths revolved around “confidence-building” measures, Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani told Asharq al-Awsat.
The Yemeni FM stated that the legitimate government is willing to fully cooperate with the envoy and is ready to head to consultations in a resort outside Stockholm, Sweden.
The Yemeni government is yet to be formally invited and expects the envoy’s office to issue an official letter determining the logistics as well as objectives and topics to be discussed at the meeting.
Yamani said that the upcoming consultations are about the same issues that were supposed to be discussed at the Geneva meeting, including the release of detainees and prisoners.
The Yemeni government has completed all necessary measures to release all detainees, prisoners and abductees, according to the minister.
He reiterated demands for the militias to leave the entire West Coast and hand over the region to the legitimate government.
He also stressed that the government will not deploy armed forces in Hodeidah, and that only police forces under the management of the interior ministry, along with the Hodeidah port administration, will maintain security.
The minister said the port of Hodeidah should be put under the supervision of the transport ministry, and that its resources should be transferred to the Central Bank in Aden.
He cautioned that if militias were to ignore all peace opportunities, then the national army will enter Hodeidah.
He warned that the militias would pay a heavy price for their destructive methods, which violate international regulations and humanitarian law, such as using civilians as human shields, looting warehouses of UN relief programs, smuggling arms from Iran, and violating the cease-fire by targeting the Yemeni army.
Regarding a British draft resolution at the Security Council, Yamani noted that it has a “hidden agenda."
The Yemeni government has called on the international community to implement previous resolutions rather then complicating the situation through new resolutions, he said.
The government has informed British officials that new resolutions will not bring peace to Yemen, the minister told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“We will not accept discussing new resolutions trying to undermine the international legal mandate for Resolution 2216. At this stage, the government needs strong pressure exerted on the militias to reach sustainable peace. This can only be achieved when the insurgents leave the country and hand over their weapons, specifically ballistic missiles and heavy weapons” to the legitimate authorities, Yamani concluded.
