Saudi Arabia has proposed a peace deal to end the long-awaited six-year war in Yemen, between the UN recognized government in Aden and the Iranian backed Houthi rebels capturing Sanaa.
In the proposal, Saudi called for a nationwide ceasefire and reopening the airport in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
“The initiative aims to end the human suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people, and affirms the Kingdom’s support for efforts to reach a comprehensive political resolution,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In the 2014 war in Yemen outbreak, when Houthi forces took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa. And Saudi led coalition forces intervened in Yemen to restore the former president and field marshal Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
In response to the peace proposal, the Houthis said the peace deal provided “nothing new” Reuters reports that, as the proposal does not include a complete lift of the blockade on Sanaa’s airport or the port city of Hodeidah. So we reluctant to accept the proposal.
“We expected that Saudi Arabia would announce an end to the blockade of ports and airports and an initiative to allow in 14 ships that are held by the coalition,” the Houthis’ chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdulsalam, told Reuters.
The United States and U.N have been trying to stop the civil war in Yemen which led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
President Biden, after assuming office in January, in his first foreign policy speech delivered in February had pledged to use diplomacy to end the long war in Yemen and to permit more refugees to enter the US.
Farhan Haq, a UN spokesperson in a press briefing said he welcome the Saudi proposals, and that UN envoy Martin Griffiths would be in touch with both parties to talk to move forward with the Saudi Proposals, Haq said when he was asked about the Houthis rejection of the proposal.
The Yemen civil war has become a proxy war between two staunchest rivals in Middle East Saudi Arabia and Iran. It led to more than 1,12,000 people died and about 80% of Yemeni people have been surviving on international aid, and millions of people are on the threshold of starvation so far.
While hailing the decision taken by Saudi, State Department deputy spokesperson, Jalina Porter said ” one step in the right direction,” calling on all of the parties to negotiate under the auspices of the U.N.
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