Biggest chance for peace in Yemen in eight years

After the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the United Nations sees good chances for peace in civil war-torn Yemen. “I don’t think we’ve seen such a serious opportunity to make progress in ending the conflict in eight years,” UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg said Monday at a UN Security Council meeting in New York. The warring factions must now take bolder steps towards peace.

“We need to see greater freedom of movement of people and goods across Yemen,” Grundberg said. He therefore called on the parties to the conflict to reopen major roads, for example in Tais in the southwest of the country, and to fully open the airport in the capital Sanaa. “All this is not only necessary, but also feasible,” says Grundberg. “The parties must not let this moment pass without reaching an agreement.”

The prisoner exchange of nearly 900 people over the weekend showed that negotiations between the two sides could yield results. The Yemeni government released about 700 prisoners from Friday to Sunday and the Houthi rebels released about 180 prisoners during the same period.

In 2014, Iran-backed Houthi rebels conquered Yemen. Today they dominate large parts of the north, including the capital Sanaa. The government of the impoverished country is fighting them with the help of a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia. All attempts to resolve the conflict definitively have so far failed.

However, the rapprochement of the two rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran now raises hopes for a breakthrough. At a recent meeting with representatives from Saudi Arabia, the Shiite Houthi rebels openly called for an end to the civil war. (sda/dpa)