YEMEN-SECURITY/TALKS Yemen foreign minister "not optimistic" about Geneva peace talks

Record ID: 151593

  • Title: YEMEN-SECURITY/TALKS Yemen foreign minister "not optimistic" about Geneva peace talks
  • Date: 17th June 2015
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 17, 2015) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS BUILDING VARIOUS OF SATELLITE TRUCKS AT UN BUILDING YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER REYAD YASSIN ABDULLA TALKING WITH JOURNALIST VARIOUS OF ABDULLA TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER, REYAD YASSIN ABDULLA, SAYING: "It is true I am not optimistic because their actions on the ground, from the destruction
  • Embargoed: 2nd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAT7CDH5VCH6KJC2VXMO7BJSBI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Yemeni foreign minister said on Wednesday (June 17) he was "not optimistic" about the outcome of peace talks held in Geneva after delegates said Houthi forces in Yemen blew up the house of a top member of a rival delegation.
    The talks among Yemen's warring factions are entering a second day in Geneva, and the U.N.'s special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, began shuttle diplomacy on Wednesday to bridge differences. But the two sides still refused to sit at the same table and laid out clashing agendas.
    "It is true I am not optimistic because their actions on the ground, from the destruction and killing of innocents, and especially in Aden and Taiz and the rest of Yemen's cities, and their actions and words here since they arrived in Geneva, do not demonstrate any good intentions on their part, nor any real desire to reach a real solution," said Foreign Minister Reyad Yassin Abdulla.
    After planting it with dynamite, the gunmen demolished the house of Abdul Aziz Jubari, the deputy head of the group representing Yemen's government exiled to Saudi Arabia.
    A coalition of Sunni Muslim states led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing the Iran-allied Houthis, who hail from a Shi'ite sect, and their allies in Yemen's army since then. Their aim is to restore Yemen's exiled president to power and head off what they see as Shi'ite Iran's expansion in the region.
    The Houthis seized Sanaa in September and pressed on into the country's centre and south, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in Saudi Arabia.
    The destruction of the house of Abdel-Aziz Jubari, a member of the Yemeni parliament, in the central Dhamar province came amid fresh air strikes by Saudi-led forces on military targets throughout Yemen.
    Jubari, who is deputy head of the delegation sent by the Yemeni government, said he was shocked when he heard that the Houthis blew up his house in the Dhamar provincial capital overnight on Tuesday.
    "But today, while I am in Geneva and we came with open hearts and open minds in order to reach a solution, unfortunately, I was surprised to hear that they blew up my house last night. This is regrettable that people's manners and behaviours can reach this point," al Jubari told Reuters Television in his hotel lobby.
    Al Jubari said he had defended the Houthis rights when the group was facing wars by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh but on Wednesday he compared them to the Middle East's most notorious militant groups.
    "These militias are like Daesh and al Qaeda, the same behaviour," he said, referring to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym.
    "They are against everything beautiful. They claim to believe in peace but they do not believe in peace," he added.
    U.N. envoy Cheikh Ahmed and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have both said they hoped the Geneva talks would result in a humanitarian truce to allow international aid agencies to deliver assistance to some 21 million Yemenis.
    Although the truce option is under discussion, an agreement has not yet been reached.
    In a speech on Tuesday, Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, held out hope for a resolution but accused his Yemeni opponents of seeking to advance Saudi Arabia's agenda.
    Hadi and the allied Arab states have demanded the Houthis comply with a U.N. Security Council Resolution in April calling on the group to quit Yemen's main cities.
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