Peace Prospects Recede in Yemen as Saudis-Emiratis Violate Sweden Truce

 By: Kayhan Int’l 

The handshake last Thursday in the Swedish town of Rimbo between the two antagonists of the Yemen war was historic and a good augur for peace, provided the United Nations under whose auspices the weeklong negotiations were held, doesn’t take sides and is fair enough to insist that the invaders, whether those have   landed armies or those who are relentlessly bombing to bits the Arab World’s poorest country, leave.

Unfortunately, there is no such statement so far from the World Body. It has neither called on the UAE to withdraw its invasion troops nor told Saudi Arabia to stop its aerial bombardment of Yemen.

This means the handshake between Mohammad Abdus-Salaam of the popular Ansarallah Movement, who represented the legal government in San’aa and Khaled al-Yamani who likes to call himself foreign minister of the ousted and unelected self-styled president, Mansour al-Hadi, might be a mere symbolic gesture unrelated to ground realities.

True, the two sides agreed to halt hostilities, especially around the besieged port of Hodeidah, and to swap prisoners, with the Ansarallah delegation assuring that if all goes well, the strategic port would be demilitarized and function under UN supervision to avert the impending famine, but definitely not be handed over to the aggressors.

The terms of the truce are a resounding slap on the face of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as their backers in Europe and North America, and this is the reason the two countries are reluctant to end either their ground offensive or their air strikes.

This was evident on Saturday when Saudi war planes carried more than a score of sorties over Hodeidah raining death and destruction on civilians, while the UAE-led forces violated the terms of the truce by attempting to launch an offensive on the port city that was beaten back by the defenders.

These two invading powers are loathe to see peace prevail in Yemen, and seem to have no intention of loosening their tentacles on the Yemeni tribes and mercenaries under their direct control, and through them under the vassalage of the West.

Any doubts in this regard became fully manifest when in Rimbo, Sweden, not just the British ambassador to Stockholm Michael Aron was present at the talks, but British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt flew in from London on the final day for discussions with Mansour Hadi’s delegation.

At the opposite end of the table, the much maligned Ansarallah, who are unjustly called ‘rebels’ and Iran’s ‘proxies’, gave a solo performance during the negotiations, thereby proving once again that it is they who are the real representatives of all the Yemeni people and are defending the integrity and dignity of their homeland, against the nefarious designs of the imperialists, the Zionists, and reactionary Arab regimes.

From the outset of the almost 4-year old war that was imposed on Yemen by Saudi Arabia in complicity with the UAE, and the full support of the US and Britain, it was clear that it wasn’t an internal conflict but an imperialist plan to take full control of the strategic land which overlooks the Bab al-Mandeb Strait commanding entrance to the Red Sea. 

It is now up to the Yemeni factions, whom Khaled al-Yamani represented at the talks in Sweden, to prove that they are real patriots and not being used as mercenaries or cannon-fodder by the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Americans, the British, and the Israelis.
Mohammad Abdus-Salaam said the Ansarallah had signed the agreement in good faith in order to avert the impending famine for the sake of the Yemeni people. 

The ball is now in the court of the Aden-based factions, who must now summon the courage to tell Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Washington, and London, to stay away from the devastating conflict and let the people of Yemen work out the solution.

If not, the war will be further enflamed and any devilish designs the aggressors have will boomerang upon them and their mercenaries, because the Ansarallah very well know that an imposed peace is worse than an imposed war.