Saudi Arabia, Houthis discuss Saudi vision for Yemen solution
A Saudi delegation visiting the capital Sanaa offers the Houthis a vision for a political solution that paves the way for ending the Yemeni crisis. Meanwhile, the region is witnessing diplomatic activity in the wake of the Saudi-Iranian agreement, which ended years of diplomatic estrangement between Tehran and Riyadh and gave a strong impetus to the activation of several pending and detailed issues considered key to stability.
According to Yemeni government sources, members of the Yemeni Presidency Council recently agreed to a Saudi concept of resolving the Yemeni crisis after two months of Omani-sponsored Saudi-Houthi talks in Muscat.
The Saudi vision, according to the sources, is to agree to a six-month truce, first a confidence-building measure, then a three-month negotiating period on a two-year transitional administration, during which a final solution will be negotiated between all parties.
“The first phase includes steps to build confidence, most importantly paying civil servants in all areas, including Houthi-controlled areas, and opening closed roads and the airport.”
U.S. Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking urged the Iranians to “really show that they are transforming the conflict in a positive way, then there will be no more Houthi arms smuggling in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions”.
Linderking has visited Oman in recent weeks. On Saturday, the US Navy announced that a nuclear missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 cruise missiles entered the Red Sea waters near Yemen in a new show of force.
Agreement breaks deadlock
The Saudi-Iranian agreement to restore diplomatic relations reflected primarily on the Yemeni crisis, accelerating talks between Saudi Arabia, which backs the internationally recognized government, and the Iranian-backed Houthis.
In the latest positive development, a Saudi delegation arrived on Sunday in Sanaa for talks with the Houthis, two Yemeni diplomats said, in a rare visit to the capital controlled by rebels allied with Tehran, as part of a new effort to revive the peace process after the recent rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran.
A Saudi delegation is in Sanaa to discuss the way forward in Yemen’s peace industry,” a Yemeni diplomat in the Gulf said. Another Yemeni diplomat confirmed the Saudi delegation’s rare visit.
The Saudi delegation will discuss with Mehdi al-Mashat, head of the Supreme Political Council, lifting the blockade, ending the attacks and “restoring the rights of the Yemeni people, including paying salaries to all state employees, including oil and gas revenues,” the Houthi-run Saba news agency reported.
Saudi delegations have already visited Sanaa for talks about prisoner exchanges with the Houthis, who control the capital and large areas in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest countries.
But this visit comes amid regional and international efforts to push for a political solution that would open the door for Saudi Arabia to emerge from the war, and then bring the conflict between the Houthis and the government to a close, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
The efforts are bolstered by the agreement between Saudi Arabia, which has led a military coalition in Yemen in support of the government since 2015, and Iran, which backs the Houthis, on resuming diplomatic relations last month after seven years of estrangement.
An Omani delegation began a visit to Sanaa on Saturday to hold talks with the Houthis as part of mediation efforts aimed at reaching a new truce in Yemen and reviving the peace process.
In a positive sign of progress in peace efforts, Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the Houthi National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, said Saturday that 13 prisoners had arrived at Sanaa International Airport in exchange for a Saudi prisoner who had been released earlier.
Last month, the Houthis and the Yemeni government announced they had reached an agreement during negotiations in Bern to exchange more than 880 prisoners.
Recent developments in Yemen’s public street have given hope that steps to end the war are progressing. “The visit of a Saudi delegation to Sanaa is promising,” said Ali Hussein, 23, a resident of Sanaa. We want the war to end, we are tired.”
“We hope that the Saudi and Omani delegations will visit Sanaa and sign an agreement that will end the war completely and not a truce,” said Mohammed Dahmash, a 35-year-old Yemeni.
For Mansour, 46, a public school teacher in the western Houthi-controlled city of Hodeida, the end of the war is linked to the return of his salary, which he has not received in seven years.
“The war is not just the rockets and shells, but also our deteriorating economic situation,” he said, preferring to remain anonymous for fear of persecution. Iman Mohammed, 31, said it takes about 12 hours to travel from Hodeidah city to Taiz city to visit people there, compared to five hours before the war. “I hope that Eid will come,” she said. “The situation has improved and she has returned to her normal condition.”
