SANAA: A renewed two-month truce in war-torn Yemen that has given the population a sense of normalization is the first step toward a broader peace settlement, the United Nations special envoy said Friday.
The truce “has delivered some humanitarian respite to the population that is unprecedented in terms of the history of the conflict, and from that point of view, it also provides us with scope and breathing space for engaging on a political settlement,” Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg told AFP in an interview.
“The truce is the first step toward a broader settlement,” he said on the sidelines of the Yemen International Forum in Stockholm, a conference attended by Yemeni political actors, experts and representatives of a host of civil society organizations.
The Yemeni government and Houthi militia agreed earlier this month to extend the truce which went into effect in April and significantly reduced the intensity of fighting in a conflict the UN says has triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and left millions on the brink of famine.
The country has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Houthis took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, triggering a military intervention in support of the beleaguered government the following year.
Under the truce, commercial flights have resumed from Sanaa airport to Amman and Cairo and oil tankers have been able to dock in the lifeline port of Hodeida, which is in rebel hands, in an attempt to ease fuel shortages.
“The truce provides us with steps that normalize life in certain small areas for the Yemeni population, and that I think is both important, but also symbolic,” Grundberg said.
“The obvious wish that I have is that this normalization, not only on the airport but on all other issues that we’re engaging on, continues.”
A provision in the truce agreement for the rebels to ease their siege of Yemen’s third-biggest city Taiz has yet to be implemented, and the government has demanded roads to the city be opened.
“We have been engaging in direct negotiations for the last two weeks in Yemen on this issue,” Grundberg said.
He said there had been “steps forward” but provided no time frame for a possible resolution to the issue.
“We have seen both sides coming with proposals to us, wanting to see a solution on the matter,” but “we haven’t reached a solution on the matter yet.”
“Right now we have a proposal on the table that I do hope can deliver.”
Yemen truce is step toward broader peace deal: UN envoy Grundberg
https://arab.news/y8wn5
Yemen truce is step toward broader peace deal: UN envoy Grundberg
- Yemeni conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and left millions on the brink of famine
- Country has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Houthis took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014
UN-sanctioned migrant smuggler killed in western Libya
- In June 2018, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Al-Dabbashi, along with another five Libyan traffickers
CAIRO: A notorious militia leader in Libya, sanctioned by the UN for migrant trafficking across the Mediterranean Sea, was killed on Friday in a raid by security forces in the west of the country, according to Libyan authorities.
Ahmed Oumar Al-Fitouri Al-Dabbashi, nicknamed Ammu, was killed in the western city of Sabratha when security forces raided his hideout. The raid came in response to an attack on a security outpost by Al-Dabbashi’s militia, which left six members of the security forces severely wounded, according to a statement issued by the Security Threat Enforcement Agency, a security entity affiliated with Libya’s western government.
Al-Dabbashi, who was also sanctioned by the US Treasury for trafficking, was the leader of a powerful militia, the “Brigade of the Martyr Anas Al-Dabbashi,” in Sabratha, the biggest launching point in Libya for Europe-bound African migrants.
Al-Dabbashi’s brother Saleh Al-Dabbashi, another alleged trafficker, was arrested in the same raid, added the statement.
In June 2018, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Al-Dabbashi, along with another five Libyan traffickers. At the time, the UN report said that there was enough evidence that Al-Dabbashi’s militia controlled departure areas for migrants, camps, safe houses and boats.
Al-Dabbashi himself exposed migrants, including children, to “fatal circumstances” on land and at sea, and of threatening peace and stability in Libya and neighboring countries, according to the same report.
Al-Dabbashi was also sanctioned by the US Treasury for the same reason.
Libya has been a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The country was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
The country has been fragmented for years between rival administrations based in the east and the west of Libya, each backed by various armed militias and foreign governments.
