Yemen accuses Houthi of blocking second round of Jordanian consultations
The Yemeni government on Friday accused Houthi militias of blocking the second round of Jordanian consultations on lifting the siege of Taiz and opening roads, after the truce was extended.
A new round of negotiations was scheduled to begin in Amman under the auspices of the international envoy between the delegations of the Yemeni government and the Houthi militias. The negotiations would discuss a UN proposal aimed at opening roads to Taiz and other governorates under the truce agreement, immediately after the announcement of an extension of two more months.
However, according to the government negotiating team in a statement, the continued absence of the Houthi militia group for days has hampered negotiations to open key roads to the city, which has been under siege for seven and a half years.
The statement noted that the absence of the Houthi team comes despite the end of the first period of the truce, its extension, and the Yemeni government’s implementation of its commitments to open Sanaa airport and the port of Hodeida.
“We find that the Houthi militias have not fulfilled their obligations by opening the main roads to the city of Taiz and supplying the money collected from the port of Hodeida to the Central Bank to pay the salaries of employees in Sanaa and the rest of the provinces under their control”, he said.
The statement affirmed the Yemeni government’s commitment to searching for all means to end the Houthi militia siege of Taiz and to put the world before the reality of the party that is obstructing the truce agreement and the continued suffering of the Yemeni people.
On Friday, UN Security Council members expressed concern at the serious humanitarian impact of the continued closure of roads around Taiz and called on Houthi militias to act flexibly in negotiations and open key roads immediately.
Earlier on Thursday, the Yemeni government and the Houthis agreed to extend the humanitarian truce by two more months on the same terms as before, under a UN agreement.
Last week, the first round of Jordan’s consultations concluded without any substantive progress and Houthi militias re-emerged as parties seeking to fragment agreements and not make any concessions to alleviate human suffering under the UN truce.
The humanitarian truce came into effect on April 2, with the Yemeni government fulfilling its terms and Houthi failing to implement any provisions, while Houthi did not implement any provision, including lifting the siege of Taiz and handing over salaries.
