- Title: Saudi-led ceasefire in Yemen begins, raising hopes for peace
- Date: 9th April 2020
- Summary: SANAA, YEMEN (APRIL 9, 2020) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEWS OF SANAA STREETS PEOPLE IN MARKETS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SENIOR HOUTHI MEMBER, MOHAMMED AL-BEKHEETY, SAYING: "The Saudi announcement should not be considered a ceasefire announcement, but rather an announcement of war continuation because it is still using it's military power on land, in air and in the sea to impose a blockade on Yemen, which is more harmful than the war itself." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AROUND STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SANAA RESIDENT, ABDULRAHMAN AL-QADY, SAYING: "This truce that they called can be considered a 'corona' truce, but not a (real) truce. We don't consider it a real truce because these two weeks are not enough. We hope for a complete stop to the war. But these partial ceasefires of 1 or 2 weeks are meaningless and unconvincing." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BUYING NEWSPAPERS IN SANAA
- Embargoed: 23rd April 2020 15:54
- Keywords: Coronavirus Humanitarian Iran Saudi Arabia United Nations War Yemen
- Location: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / SANAA, YEMEN
- City: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / SANAA, YEMEN
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA003C8RRQ6F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A nationwide ceasefire in response to the global coronavirus outbreak went into effect in Yemen on Thursday (April 9), raising hope for an end to the five-year-old war that has pushed millions to the brink of famine.
A Saudi-led coalition fighting against Yemen's Houthi movement said it would halt military operations from 0900 GMT for two weeks in support of United Nations efforts to end the conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people.
The Iran-aligned movement, which controls the capital Sanaa and most big urban centres, has yet to announce whether it will follow suit in what would be the first major breakthrough in peace efforts since late 2018.
The United Nations and Western allies have pointed to the threat of the coronavirus to push the combatants to restart talks to end the war, which has shattered Yemen's health system.
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, told Reuters at least half of Yemen's population was in a "very degraded health status" while three quarters require some form of humanitarian assistance or protection.
The conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been in military stalemate for years and brought Yemen's economy to its knees.
(Production: Nael Shyoukhi, Ahmed Ansi, Abdelruhman Yahya, Tarek Fahmy, Hamuda Hassan) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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