No talk of Yemen ceasefire extension unless public demands are fully responded to: FM
The Yemeni foreign minister says there will be no talks about extension of the United Nations-brokered six-month truce, which expired on October 2, unless the nation’s legitimate demands are fully met, stressing that the Sana’a-based National Salvation Government spares no effort to establish just and dignified peace throughout the war-torn country.
Hisham Sharaf made the remarks in a meeting with the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Joyce Msuya, in Sana’a on Tuesday.
Sharaf emphasized that the only solution to offset the adverse consequences of the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Yemen is to immediately stop the Saudi-led aggression, lift all cruel sanctions and end any kind of foreign military presence on Yemeni soil.
He highlighted that the continued detention of Yemen-bound tankers carrying oil derivatives and natural gas, and the adamant refusal to allow oil ships to offload their cargoes in Yemen’s strategic western port of Hudaydah and fully reopen Sana’a airport will only amplify the detrimental effects of Yemen humanitarian crisis.
The top Yemeni diplomat stressed that the Sana’a-based National Salvation Government is calling for the extension of the UN humanitarian and military ceasefire and fulfillment of its terms and conditions.
He said aggressor countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are well aware of demands for the ceasefire extension, stating that the requests mainly center around payment of civil servants’ salaries and preparations for the launch of meaningful peace negotiations.
Sharaf said Sana’a conveys the collective desire of millions of Yemenis, which is restoration of honorable peace away from foreign instructions and diktats.
“We do not accept a situation where Yemeni people are caught between war and peace,” the Yemeni foreign minister said.
He also asked the United Nations to step up its humanitarian programs in Yemen, and provide the crisis-hit Arab nation with more food and medical supplies as well as financial aids.
For her part, Msuya underlined that Yemen humanitarian crisis remain a high priority for the United Nations, and called for the political settlement of the conflict in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states.
The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.
While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
