Yemen’s armistice reaches a dead end due to Saudi aggression intransigence: National Delegation

Yemen’s national negotiating delegation confirmed that the discussion and talks to renew the armistice had reached a dead end. They explained it was because of the intransigence of the countries of aggression, their sponsors and mercenaries, in addition to their adherence to the continuation of war and siege, and the use of humanitarian and legal entitlements as a weapon of war and a tool of pressure to bring the Yemeni people to their knees.

The delegation issued a clarification statement in which it confirmed that the countries of aggression repudiated the implementation of the various provisions of the armistice agreement over the past six months, despite Sana’a agreeing to extend it twice to provide more opportunity to make progress.

The delegation held the countries of aggression responsible for the failure of the truce, stressing the right of the Yemeni people to defend their rights and confront the aggression and siege.

The following is the statement released by the delegation:

With the truce communications reached a dead end, and with a sense of our responsibility before Allah and our Yemeni people, and out of our desire to put our Yemeni people in the picture of what has happened, and the efforts we have made to use the truce as an opportunity to progress in addressing the humanitarian situation, ending the siege, and establishing a cease-fire across Yemen, in a way that prepares the atmosphere for a durable ceasefire and comprehensive peace, we would like to clarify the following:

– Since the beginning of the humanitarian and military truce that was agreed upon with the United Nations, and despite the delays in opening Sanaa airport, the failure to open a traveling destination to Egypt until the moment, the deliberate delay of ships for long periods with the intention of increasing costs, the imposition of arbitrary restrictions, procedures, and extortion against oil suppliers, as well as the continuation of espionage drones hovering and bombing, we were keen not to miss any opportunity that could lead us towards peace, and we exercised restraint towards those violations to give more time to deliberations and international efforts and the efforts of some brothers. After all this, we did not have any special agenda except to request what is in the interest of our people and the humanitarian and legal rights of the people. That is why we accepted the first and second extensions, in hope that there will be the slightest sense of responsibility or understanding on the part of the countries of aggression and their mercenaries towards the issues of the citizens who have suffered the scourge of eight years of aggression and siege, which include the payment of civil employees salaries, ending the arbitrary procedures and restrictions imposed on oil derivatives ships and allow the entry of commercial ships and medical supplies, expanding travel destinations, in addition to addressing the file of prisoners and detainees, opening roads in Taiz and all Yemeni governorates and other issues.

During the six months of the truce, we did not see any seriousness to address the humanitarian file as an urgent priority. Unfortunately, it became clear that the countries of aggression, after they had exhausted all their cards, had no choice but to target the livelihood of the Yemeni people. It seemed to be the easiest way to bring the people to their knees and use it as a military tactic and a war tool to pressure them. Their bet on the economic paper and the continuation of the siege became a clear bet after all their other aggressive bets had failed, and it became clear that their desire is not peace as much as it is to keep the countries of aggression away from the repercussions of the war and direct targeting and besiege them within Yemen, and transferring the war to target the economic field by continuing their siege and imposing unjust restrictions on the Yemeni people to prevent access to their legal and humanitarian entitlements.

– We did not demand any special demands or entitlements outside the rights guaranteed to the Yemeni people humanly and legally, and equality between Yemeni civil and military employees and retirees in the payment of salaries without discrimination between one governorate and another, and the right of employees to receive their salaries in any governorate of Yemen from the sovereign revenues and foremost crude oil and gas; As the main resource on which the salary bill depends, even before the aggressive war in 2015, in which unlimited tampering is taking place and subjected to continuous looting by the countries of aggression.

With regard to opening roads in Taiz and other Yemeni governorates as stipulated in the armistice agreement, we formed a committee in the first period of the armistice and from the beginning, the other party refused to discuss opening roads in all Yemeni provinces and limited the talks about Taiz. Although this contradicts the text of the armistice agreement, we continued the discussion and presented three proposals in Taiz as a first stage that would greatly facilitate the traffic of vehicles, namely:

1 Al-Shareja Road – Karsh – Al Rahda – Al-Zaila’i Road.

2 – Al-Zaylai Road – Al-Sarmin – Ab’ar to Salalah and the city of Taiz.

3 – Siteen-Khamseen Road from the Air Defense to the city of Taiz.

When they refused to accept these suggestions, we opened them on one side, but the other side refused and targeted the committee and deliberately shot them directly.

A military committee was also formed and participated in a number of meetings to establish the ceasefire despite the violations, most notably the aerial bombardment by warplanes and drones, the continuous hovering of espionage drones and the targeting of citizens, which led to dozens of killed, especially in some areas adjacent to the borders with Saudi Arabia.

– The National Committee of Prisoners and Detainees also participated in extensive meetings with the United Nations in accordance with a previous agreement that stipulated the release of agreed numbers, but we were surprised that their focus was only on the release of Saudi prisoners and some leaders without regard for the rest of the prisoners, in clear violation of what was signed in the agreement.

In conclusion, we affirm the right of our Yemeni people to defend themselves and their rights and to confront the aggression and siege, and we hold the countries of aggression responsible for reaching the truce at a dead end as a result of their intransigence and disavowal from the measures that have no goal other than to alleviate the human suffering of our dear Yemeni people.

Issued by the national delegation

Saturday, 5 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1444 AH

Corresponding to 1 October 2022).