Saudi Arabia proposes ceasefire to Yemen's Huthi rebels

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan al Saud announcing his proposed ceasefire to Yemen's Huthi rebels. DPA via Europa Press / Europa Press

Saudi Arabia on Monday proposed a ceasefire to Yemen's Huthi rebels to end six years of war that have destroyed that country and damaged the kingdom's international image.

The initiative, which comes after both parties have increased their attacks in recent weeks, calls for the reopening of the airport in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, and allowing access for food and fuel through the port of Hodeida, both under control. rebel.

The Huthi say they see nothing new in the Saudi plan, without rejecting it outright.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan al Saud has explained that they expect the UN to monitor the ceasefire and that contacts between the Yemeni government and the rebels will be re-established.

"The initiative will be effective as soon as the Huthi give their agreement," Prince Faisal said during a televised press conference, reported by the Al Arabiya network.

“Now it is up to the Huthi, and we are ready to start now.

We are confident that we can have an immediate ceasefire.

The Huthi must decide whether to put their interests or those of Iran first, ”added the minister.

Saudi Arabia, which supports the government of Abdrabbo Mansur Hadi, which the rebels seized power in late 2014, accuses the group of being a pawn of Tehran.

Almost immediately, a spokesman for Ansarullah (the official name for those popularly known as Huthi by the ruling clan) has downplayed the scope of the Saudi proposal.

"Opening airports and ports is a humanitarian right and should not be used as an instrument of pressure," the head of its negotiating team, Mohammed Abdulsalam, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The person in charge has ensured however that the group will continue talking with Saudi Arabia, Oman (a country that acts as a mediator) and the United States to try to reach an agreement.

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The Huthi demand the total lifting of the Saudi blockade.

However, Riyadh rejects this measure without international supervision, given the risk that it will allow the entry of Iranian weapons into Yemen.

Predictably, Hadi's government has backed the Saudi announcement.

The US State Department and the United Arab Emirates have also expressed their support.

Saudi Arabia's proposal comes after the military coalition it leads in Yemen has stepped up its bombardment of Huthi targets in the north of that country, including Sana'a, over the past two weeks.

Riyadh was thus responding to the double challenge posed by the rebels who, since February, have intensified both the internal war and the attacks on the Desert Kingdom.

The Huthi have launched a new offensive against Mareb, according to some analysts, reinforced by the less complacent attitude towards Saudi Arabia of the new US administration, and according to others, fearful that it will impose an end to hostilities.

Mareb is the last city in the north in the hands of the internationally recognized government and the door to control of the country's dwindling gas and oil reserves, which despite its modesty would give a break to its economy, sheltered by the Saudi blockade.

At the same time, the number of attacks with ballistic missiles and explosives-laden drones against Saudi Arabia has increased, with particular emphasis on its oil facilities.

Although most of the projectiles are intercepted and destroyed without causing damage, on several occasions they have created the alarm in Jeddah, Riyadh and even Dhahran, in the Eastern province, where a drone tried to reach, without success, the crude export terminal scored by Ras Tanura.

Saudi officials are convinced that behind these operations is the hand of their arch enemy Iran who would be using the Huthi to try to undermine the security of his country.

Tehran has denied having anything to do with it, but analysis of the drones and missiles used in the September 2019 attack, the most serious against the kingdom's oil infrastructure, established an alarming link with pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.