Griffiths, Houthis bringing down Sweden agreement
Wednesday 16/January/2019 - 02:19 PM
Ali Rajab
The Swedish agreement has become threatened with the accusations by the Houthis
against the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths saying that he has left his
mission in Yemen and is now implementing other agendas. Meanwhile, Yemeni votes
on the other side have been raised in support of legitimacy and demanding the
end of the Swedish agreement and the return to the military solution to
liberate the port of Hodeidah.
"There is no progress in Hodeidah in the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement," Mohamed Abdel Salam, head of the Houthi militia delegation in the Swedish negotiations said in a tweet. Abdel Salam attributed that to the fact that the head of the UN Coordinating Committee has abandoned the agreement by implementing another agenda, and the task seems to be greater than its abilities.
The coordination cell at the Advanced Operations Center at the Hodeidah axis of the Yemeni army has identified 464 violations committed by the Houthi militia since the truce took effect on December 18 last year.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khalid al-Yamani said last Thursday that the Houthis refuse to withdraw from the port city and ports of Hodeidah and threaten the Swedish agreement. He stressed during a meeting in Amman with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi on the need to move the Stockholm agreements to tangible results on the ground through a clear and stated timeframe before moving ahead with a new round of consultations.
Al-Yamani said that the Houthi militias have not yet accepted the withdrawal from Hodeidah and its ports, although a month has passed since the signing of the Stockholm agreement. He called on the international community to push the Houthis to implement the agreement Sweden.
Increasing pressure
Earlier, Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, called on the international community to increase pressure on the Huthis after the attack on al-Anad base in the Yemeni city of Lahj.
"The peace negotiations are a tactic for them, not an obligation," Gargash said. "464 violations of the ceasefire have been recorded. 36 are dead and 318 are injured since the Stockholm agreement," he said. "The international community must increase pressure."
On Wednesday, Griffith confirmed in a briefing to the UN Security Council that both parties to the conflict in Yemen are "largely committed themselves" to the cease-fire in Hodeidah.
The agreement called for the cessation of "fire and military escalation" and the withdrawal of the Houthis from the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa within 14 days, followed by their withdrawal from the city of Hodeidah to the northern parties within 21 days.
Under consideration
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that the request to host the second round of Yemeni talks is still under study. "The Kingdom is still considering the request made by the United Nations to host Jordan for the second round of Yemeni talks between the government and the Houthis," an official source said in a statement.
For his part, Yemeni military expert, Yahya Abuhatm, accused UN envoy Griffiths that he seeks to prolong the war in Yemen, taking advantage of the terrorist group Huthi as a tool of demolition and a killing machine.
He added in statements to the Reference, “What Griffith says to the Huthi is what he says to the legitimacy forces in the sense that he and his organization (the United Nations) cannot take care of the Yemeni issue.”
Uncertain
The Yemeni media and political analyst Abdul Karim al-Midi said that the Swedish agreement is now characterized by uncertainty, explaining that the Houthi militia is mobilizing fighters and digging trenches, and wants to cut supplies to the joint forces and bring surprises.
