Yemeni FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: UN Envoy Will Realize Futility of Peace Talks with Houthis

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)
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Yemeni FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: UN Envoy Will Realize Futility of Peace Talks with Houthis

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said that his government was awaiting United Nations special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths’ invitation to attend consultations in Geneva in September.

He stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the legitimate government was prepared to “go all the way” with the talks.

The envoy will eventually reach a personal conviction that peace cannot be reached with the Iran-backed Houthis, he added, noting that his predecessor, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, made the same conclusion and announced it before the UN Security Council.

Efforts to build trust must be exerted before taking any measures and this message was clearly delivered to Griffiths by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

These efforts must include the release of prisoners and delivery of aid, which is being looted on a daily basis by the Houthis, he explained.

“There are many trust-building steps that we had spoken about in Geneva and at the Kuwait talks in the past, but the Houthis did not agree to them,” he said.

Furthermore, Yamani said that the Houthis are using children and civilian detainees and captives as human shields.

This was demonstrated during last week’s bus attack in Saada, he noted. The militias know that the Saudi-led Arab coalition would not target a bus that is transporting children.

“Much has been said about this incident despite a lack of real information. This region does not have schools, so where did the children come from? Where were they going?” he asked.

“As I mentioned, the militias are using children as shields, to protect them from coalition strikes, in violation of international law,” the minister charged. The West is choosing to ignore these facts.

On whether the government would reject Griffiths’ invitation to attend the Geneva consultations should the agenda include articles it does not want to discuss, Yamani said: “We should not get ahead of ourselves.”

He recalled how the government had previously warned Ould Cheikh against believing the Houthis, citing that their leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, had been blacklisted.

“We had explained to him that these gangs would not yield to the peace conditions because they are a product of Iranian experts and [Lebanon’s] ‘Hezbollah’,” he said.

In addition, he stressed that his government refuses to discuss the proposal on the Hodeidah province at the Geneva meeting.

It will not hold negotiations over this issue because the Houthis have so far refused to withdraw from the province. The main condition in the Hodeidah proposal revolves around the militias’ pullout.

“Why are they rejecting the proposal? The government will present this question to the international community,” Yamani added to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Moreover, he said that Griffiths must take into consideration the consultations that had taken place in Kuwait in 2016.

“We were on the verge of reaching a comprehensive agreement …., but the Houthis, at Iran’s instruction, withdrew from the negotiations and refused to sign the agreement,” he noted.

Addressing foreign meddling in Yemen’s affairs, Yamani said that his ministry was exerting major efforts to confront this interference, especially in regards to Lebanon.

The foreign ministry had filed a complaint to Beirut in July over “Hezbollah’s” meddling in Yemen and was planning on filing lawsuits against all Houthi media outlets operating in Lebanon.

These outlets, he said, were operating illegally and backed by “Hezbollah”.

He noted that the Lebanese political class overwhelmingly supports Yemen and “we will therefore, exercise our right to defend our interests to the end. We cannot allow the terrorist ‘Hezbollah’ to carry out such actions.”



Lebanon’s President to Asharq Al-Awsat: Decision of War and Peace Lies Solely with the State

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's editor-in-chief Ghassan Charbel. Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's editor-in-chief Ghassan Charbel. Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat
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Lebanon’s President to Asharq Al-Awsat: Decision of War and Peace Lies Solely with the State

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's editor-in-chief Ghassan Charbel. Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat's editor-in-chief Ghassan Charbel. Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says he wants to build a state that has the decision of war and peace and stressed he is committed to implementing Security Council Resolution 1701.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, his first since his election in January, Aoun said: “Our objective is to build the state, so nothing is difficult. And if we want to talk about the concept of sovereignty, its concept is to place the decisions of war and peace in the hands of the state, and to monopolize or restrict weapons to the state.”

“When will it be achieved? Surely, the circumstances will allow it,” he told the newspaper.

Asked whether the state will be able to impose control over all Lebanese territories with its own forces and without any military or security partnership, he said: "It is no longer allowed for anyone other than the state to fulfill its national duty in protecting the land and the people ... When there is an aggression against the Lebanese state, the state makes the decision, and it determines how to mobilize forces to defend the country."

He also stressed his full commitment to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. “The state and all its institutions are committed to implementing the Resolution” on the “entire Lebanese territories,” Aoun said.

On the possible adoption of a defense strategy, Aoun insisted that even if a state does not have enemies on its borders, it should agree on a national security strategy that not only deals with military goals but also economic and fiscal objectives.

“We are tired of war,” he said in response to a question. “We hope to end military conflicts and resolve our problems through diplomatic efforts,” he said.

Asked whether he was surprised that the Israeli army has stayed at five points in south Lebanon, Aoun said that Israel should have committed to the ceasefire agreement that was sponsored by the US and France and should have withdrawn from all areas it had entered during the war with Hezbollah.

“We are in contact with France and the US to pressure Israel to withdraw from the five points because they don’t have any military value,” he said.

“With the emergence of technologies, drones and satellites,” an army does not need a hill for surveillance, Aoun added.

"Saudi Arabia has become a gateway for the region and for the whole world. It has become a platform for global peace,” he said when asked why he has chosen to visit the Kingdom on his first official trip abroad.

“I hope and expect from Saudi Arabia, especially Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that we correct the relationship for the benefit of both countries and remove all the obstacles ... so that we can build economic and natural relations between us.”

He said that during his visit he plans to ask Saudi Arabia to revive a grant of military aid to Lebanon.

On relations with the Syrian authorities, Aoun said he intends to have friendly ties the new Syrian administration and that one of the pressing issues is to resolve the problem of the porous border between the two countries.

“There are problems on the border (with Syria) with smugglers. Most importantly, the land and sea border with Syria should be demarcated,” he said.

Aoun also called for resolving the problem of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. “The Syrian state cannot give up on 2 million citizens who have been displaced to Lebanon.”

The refugees should return because “the Syrian war ended and the regime that was persecuting them collapsed,” he said.