Sanaa: Saudi coalition responsible for thwarting Yemeni truce

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The head of the Sanaa negotiating delegation, Mohammad Abd Al-Salam, revealed on Monday the latest developments on the armistice during a phone call with officials from the European External Action Service (EEAS).

In a Tweet published earlier today, Abd Al-Salam said, "We received a phone call from the European External Action Service who confirmed our position on the necessity of disbursing the salaries of all employees and pensioners and ending the arbitrary restrictions on the ports of Al-Hudaydah and Sanaa airport."

He emphasized the need for "the countries of aggression to bear the responsibility for thwarting the truce and exacerbating the human suffering of our people."

تلقينا اتصالا هاتفيا من منسق الاتحاد الأوروبي للشؤون السياسية ، أكدنا على موقفنا المعروف بضرورة صرف مرتبات جميع الموظفين ومعاشات المتقاعدين وإنهاء القيود التعسفية على موانئ الحديدة ومطار صنعاء، وتتحمل دول العدوان مسؤولية إفشال الهدنة وتفاقم المعاناة الإنسانية لشعبنا العزيز.

— محمد عبدالسلام (@abdusalamsalah) October 3, 2022

Yesterday, Abd Al-Salam said that "there is no truth whatsoever to what was being reported by some malicious media outlets about the reaching of an agreement to extend the armistice," adding that the delegation had previously clarified its position and the real demands of the Yemeni people regarding the extension of the armistice.

The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, later expressed his regret over the fact that no agreement was reached over the extension of the truce following its expiry on Sunday.

Grundberg said the proposal to extend and expand the armistice included paying civil servants' salaries, the opening of specific roads in Taiz and other governorates, additional destinations for flights to and from Sanaa airport, unhindered entry of fuel ships into Al-Hudaydah port, and strengthening de-escalation mechanisms through the Military Coordination Committee, in addition to a commitment to urgently release detainees.

The Supreme Political Council in Yemen had previously warned "not to allow the armistice to turn into a strategic goal of its own as a means of reaching a final agreement," and it condemned the "reaction of the United Nations and its submission of a proposal that does not meet the demands of the Yemeni people and lays no foundation for the peace process."

It is worth mentioning that the United Nations announced last August to extend the armistice which entered into force on April 2 and got renewed for the first time on June 2, and then for the second time on August 2.

Comments of Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hisham Sharaf

On another note, the Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hisham Sharaf, stated earlier today that the failure of other parties to respond adequately to the demands of the Yemeni people's confirmed without a doubt their lack of consideration in moving ahead toward reaching a comprehensive and sustainable peaceful political settlement.

Sharaf told Yemeni news agency Saba, "What the Supreme Political Council concluded in its meeting yesterday must be taken into full consideration by all parties across the region and the world," stressing that whatever promises Sanaa gives it carries out. 

He also pointed out that the recent unfolding events proved to the world that Sanaa's warnings were indeed valid and that through the extension of the armistice, the other party was plotting to lead the country into a state of clinical death and force it to subsist in a state of perpetual war.

Read more: Exclusive: Yemeni sources clarify fallacies on salaries disbursement