Delegates crowded in Oman: Armistice negotiations intensify

Sanaa and Riyadh began negotiations in Muscat, sponsored by the Omani side, in an effort to reach an agreement that would result in the extension and expansion of the armistice in Yemen. In this context, sources revealed to “Al-Akhbar” that the Saudi side sent, a few days ago, a high-level delegation to the Omani capital to hold talks on the extension, noting that the negotiation process is taking place between Riyadh and Sanaa through the Omani mediator who relies on it. The Kingdom has to make a new breakthrough that keeps the ceasefire in effect. Moreover, the sources pointed out that the kingdom had recently tried to have direct communications with Ansar Allah, but the movement refused this because of what it meant by Saudi Arabia’s portrayal of itself as a peace broker.

With the return of the UN envoys Hans Grundberg and the American Tim Lenderking to the region to complete the armistice talks in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Muscat, media outlets affiliated with the government loyal to the aggressive “coalition” accused Grundberg of exerting maximum pressure on the “Presidential Council” to accept the condition made by Sana’a, which is paying the salaries of employees of the Ministries of Interior and Defense according to the 2014 names. This came in light of the talk about the United Nations introducing new amendments to the previous proposal for the payment of pensions, which included, according to sources, a mechanism for disbursement and guarantees of its continuity, but the position of the “presidential” until now is still contradicting these suggestions. This what made Yemeni political activists and diplomats loyal to the “coalition” accuse the “presidential council” of “irresponsible dealing” with the demands to pay the salaries of a large segment of Yemeni society, stressing it is “a humanitarian issue that does not accept politicization.” They also pointed out that the council disburses the pensions of hundreds of thousands of militia members affiliated with the “coalition” from public funds, at the expense of key state employees.

For its part, sources close to the government loyal to the “coalition” confirmed to Al-Akhbar that the salaries of the military, the mechanism of their disbursement, the type of currency on the basis of which the exchange will be made, and the guarantees that ensure the continuation of this process, are still so far a major dispute, while Sana’a stresses that paying the pensions of all employees, and in the currency in which the raw material is sold (i.e. the dollar), in addition to its demand for guarantees to ensure the continuation of the payment without stopping. In addition, Sana’a added that a flexible mechanism should be implemented and agreed upon for the payment of the arrears due to employees, which amount – according to estimates – about four billion dollars.

Recently, Saudi Arabia tried to open direct inks of communication with Sanaa.
In this regard, diplomatic sources told Al-Akhbar that the ambassadors of that government were instructed to talk about “the Houthis are taking advantage of the international pressures they are facing to impose salaries for their fighters, and that accepting these demands will prolong the war.” According to these sources, the meeting of the ambassador of the government of the “coalition” in Moscow, last Monday, with the Russian President’s envoy to the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, came in the aforementioned context, after Moscow led, last week, an undisclosed mediation between Sana’a And Riyadh led to the prevention of escalation. The sources pointed out that the Russian mediation with Sanaa came at the request of Saudi Arabia, as Moscow asked “Ansar Allah” to give the negotiations an additional time to reach an agreement on the contentious points, while Russia renewed, this week, its support for the UN efforts aimed at bringing peace to the country.

At this time, Saudi Arabia, which, since the expiration of the armistice at the beginning of this month, has resorted to many parties to mediate with Sanaa, such as Iraq, Iran, Germany and other countries, to prevent escalation and continue negotiations. In a meeting that brought together the official of the Yemeni file in the Royal Court, The Saudi Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, with the President of the Presidential Council residing in Riyadh, Rashad Al-Alimi, at dawn on Tuesday, showed that there is a possibility of resorting to force and moving some fronts – especially the Al-Jawf front – and consequently returning the situation to what it was before the second of last April If the negotiations to extend the armistice fail, according to sources close to the Presidential Council.