In a positive development towards peace, two insiders disclosed that a delegation from Saudi Arabia and Oman will visit Yemen's capital, Sanaa, to discuss a permanent cessation of hostilities with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
Credit: Reuters (Workers unload imported secondhand furniture from a truck outside a Sanaa, Yemen, bazaar.)
Two insiders revealed that a group from Saudi Arabia and Oman will travel to Yemen's capital, Sanaa, to discuss a long-term suspension of hostilities with the Houthi movement, which is allied with Iran. The agreement is expected to be made public before the forthcoming Eid holiday, with the reopening of Yemen's ports and airports, reconstruction, and political transition as its primary agenda items. Wages for public employees are another important consideration. Parallel to the UN peace efforts are these negotiations, which could mark a significant turning point in the stabilization of the Middle East.
The Yemeni administration has also said that ships will be permitted to dock immediately in southern ports and that, with minor exclusions, all commodities will be processed. After being removed from a list of prohibited products, more than 500 different types of goods, including batteries and fertilisers, will be permitted back into Yemen through southern ports. The easing of limitations denotes advancement in bilateral negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement, which are centered on the full reopening of Houthi-controlled ports and Sanaa's airport, the payment of public employees' wages, and a timetable for the withdrawal of non-Yemeni soldiers.
According to reports, Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels have agreed to a truce, suggesting that China may have played a significant role in bringing the conflict in Yemen to an end. It has been noticed that the United States appears to be absent, whose support of Saudi Arabia has been a big barrier to peace.
“Decades of militarized American foreign policy in the Middle East have enabled China to play the role of peacemaker while Washington is stuck and unable to offer much more than arms deals and increasingly unconvincing security assurances.” claims Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
In contrast to the strategy preferred by Washington foreign policy elites, who hoped that the Saudi war could force the Houthis to cede more power to the U.S.-backed Yemeni "government," Erik Sperling of Just Foreign Policy, which has been working for an end to the war in Yemen, notes that the Saudi concessions "demonstrate that their priority is to protect Saudi territory from attack and focus on economic development at home."
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