Saudis optimistic about negotiations with Sanaa

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen Net
15 Apr 2023 19:24

The Saudi Foreign Ministry releases a statement revealing that the meetings in Sanaa "included in-depth discussions on a number of issues related to the humanitarian situation.

A member of Saudi security forces stands guard at the headquarters of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 16, 2017 (REUTERS)

It was announced today by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Saudi negotiating team, headed by its ambassador to Yemen, Mohammad Al Jaber, held a series of meetings in Sanaa.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry added, in a statement, that these meetings "included in-depth discussions on a number of issues related to the humanitarian situation, including the release of all prisoners as well as reaching a cease-fire and a comprehensive political solution in Yemen."

#Statement | The Saudi team held a number of meetings in Sanaa, which witnessed in-depth discussions on a number of issues related to the humanitarian situation; Including the release of all prisoners of war, reaching a cease-fire, and a comprehensive political solution in Yemen. pic.twitter.com/5NlSXmeGNv
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) April 15, 2023

The statement also revealed that the negotiating team's meetings in Sanaa were transparent, positive, and constructive, noting that the Saudi delegation's visit to Sanaa is an extension of "the Saudi initiative and the positive momentum provided by the UN armistice."

It was also specified that these meetings will be resumed as soon as possible, "with the aim of achieving a comprehensive and sustainable political solution accepted by all Yemeni parties."

Equivocally, a member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi, said that the Ansar Allah movement is looking forward to "a comprehensive end to the war and not to a truce," stressing that the movement does not wish to monopolize power in Yemen.

Al-Houthi revealed, during an interview with CNN, that Ansar Allah's demands from Saudi Arabia and the coalition are not out of the ordinary, as "they will include opening the skies, lifting the siege and restoring commercial activity," noting that these are not demands but rights.

Al-Houthi said that the talks with Saudi Arabia are currently attending to the humanitarian aspect of the conflict, calling for steps to be taken on the ground in this regard.

Yesterday, the head of the Yemeni negotiating team representing the Sanaa government, Muhammad Abdul Salam, said that the Yemeni team underwent complicated and intense negotiations that discussed complicated and intertwined issues in regard to the humanitarian, military, and political aspects of the conflict. He stressed that progress has been made in some of the subjects.

Abdul Salam pointed out that there are "other subjects that have not been adequately addressed which the Saudi delegation chose to postpone."

The representative of the Sanaa government stated that the negotiating parties "agreed to sustain the existing atmosphere of calm, which applies to the armistice, and to maintain communication."

On his part, the leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, congratulated yesterday "the families of the liberated prisoners on their recent freedom", assuring the rest of the prisoners' families that "work continues to complete the exchange process until the liberation of all prisoners is achieved."

The exchange of prisoners between Sanaa and Riyadh comes as part of the implementation of the agreement reached in talks between the parties to the Yemeni conflict in the Swiss capital, Bern, last March. The International Committee of the Red Cross will reportedly be using its planes to transport prisoners by air to and from 6 cities in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.