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Houthis’ Absence Delays Yemen Cease-Fire Talks U.N. Leader Calls Yemen a ‘Ticking Bomb,’ Amid Delay in Cease-Fire Talks
(about 1 hour later)
GENEVA — United Nations efforts to start talks aimed at achieving at least a cease-fire in Yemen were further delayed on Monday because members of the Houthi rebel group battling the Saudi-backed government of the president in exile, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, had not arrived in Geneva, where the talks were due to be held. GENEVA — The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, warned that Yemen was a “ticking bomb,” as efforts to start talks aimed at achieving at least a cease-fire in the country were further delayed on Monday.
In Geneva on Monday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met representatives of Yemen’s ousted government and ambassadors from the so-called Group of 16 countries that is closely monitoring developments in Yemen, Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for the United Nations in Geneva, said. Mr. Ban had stopped off in Geneva to attend the start of what the United Nations has called “preliminary inclusive consultations,” originally intended to start on Sunday, between the Houthi rebel group and the Saudi-backed government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is in exile.
Mr. Ban “is very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Yemen in particular and is calling for a humanitarian pause,” Mr. Fawzi said, but he added that a formal start to what the United Nations is calling “preliminary inclusive consultations” would have to await the arrival of the Houthi delegation. Mr. Ban met separately on Monday with representatives of the ousted government and ambassadors of the so-called Group of 16 countries that are closely monitoring developments in Yemen, but he had to leave for New York without seeing the Houthi delegation after delays on their journey to Geneva.
The consultations had been due to start on Sunday but were delayed when the Houthi delegation declined to board the aircraft that was supposed to take them to Geneva. The 23-member Houthi-led delegation, which was understood to also include representatives of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, initially refused to board the aircraft that was supposed to bring them to Geneva. When they eventually left Sana on Sunday, the flight was delayed in Djibouti for what Mr. Ban said were logistical problems.
The delegation, reported by The Associated Press to include Houthi leaders and representatives of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, eventually left the Yemeni capital, Sana, on Sunday and flew to Djibouti, but the onward journey to Geneva was delayed by what Mr. Fawzi said was “a technical glitch” linked to refueling and flight crew schedules. Mr. Ban told reporters before leaving that the Houthi delegation was scheduled to reach Geneva later in the day, and he warned the parties that quick work toward an agreement was imperative.
As Mr. Ban started his meetings in Geneva, Mr. Fawzi said it was unclear whether the Houthi delegation had left Djibouti. “Yemen’s very existence hangs in the balance. While parties bicker, Yemen burns,” he told reporters. “We don’t have a minute to lose. The ticking clock is not a timepiece it’s a ticking bomb.”
The United Nations is hoping the consultations, which are due to start with “proximity talks” in which the delegations remain in separate rooms, will lead to a humanitarian pause to allow aid deliveries to the population and a withdrawal of fighting forces from cities. Mr. Ban said the goals of the consultations were a humanitarian pause that would allow aid to reach impoverished civilians, a longer term cease-fire and the resumption of a political dialogue leading to a negotiated solution to the conflict.
But as delegates and diplomats assembled in Geneva at the weekend, fierce fighting continued in many areas of Yemen, an impoverished nation of 26 million. Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition continued at the weekend against rebel positions, including in the northern province of Saada, the central city of Dhamar and in the province of Jawf in the north, where the Houthis took control of the provincial capital on Sunday. But such is the gulf dividing the two sides that the consultations are due to start with “proximity talks,” in which the warring factions do not meet face to face but sit in separate rooms as mediators shuttle between them.
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, underscored the urgent need for a cease-fire to ease the plight of civilians facing what aid agencies have warned is a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation. As delegates and diplomats assembled in Geneva over the weekend, fierce fighting continued in many areas of Yemen, a nation of 26 million. Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition continued against rebel positions, including in the northern province of Saada, the central city of Dhamar and in the province of Jawf in the northwest, where the Houthis took control of the provincial capital on Sunday.
Mr. Hussein, whose previous comments on the conflict have reportedly angered Saudi Arabia, told the Human Rights Council that his office had received reports that “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks are being used on densely populated areas.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, highlighted the urgent need for a cease-fire to ease the plight of civilians facing what aid agencies have warned is a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation.
The blockade on imports of fuel, food and medicine, which the Saudi-led coalition has maintained in a bid to cut off arms supplies to rebel forces “should be lifted immediately,” Mr. Zeid said. Mr. al-Hussein, whose previous comments on the conflict have reportedly angered Saudi Arabia, told the United Nations Human Rights Council that his office had received reports that “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks are being used on densely populated areas.”
The blockade on imports of fuel, food and medicine, which the Saudi-led coalition has maintained in a bid to cut off arms supplies to rebel forces, “should be lifted immediately,” Mr. al-Hussein said.