Dubai: Yemen’s Iran-backed Al Houthis rebels have set conditions that do not give hope that there will be any political solution reached anytime soon. Just before their meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, who arrived in Sana’a on Sunday, the militiamen demanded the wages of all state employees in cash in all provinces, and the reopening of Sana’a International Airport for commercial and international flights.
The Saudi-led coalition accuses Al Houthis of taking advantage of their control of Hodeida port to obtain weapons from their Iranian patrons as well as confiscate aid intended for Yemenis in order to sustain their war efforts.
In June, the government forces, backed by the coalition air power, started a major offensive to expel Al Houthis from Hodeida in western Yemen.
The campaign was temporarily halted in support of UN efforts to revive Yemen’s long-stalled peacemaking.
In the past few days, the government loyalists have resumed the Hodeida battle and were able to seize control of the strategically important district of Kilo 16 east of the city.
The breakthrough blocked a main rebel supply route linking Hodeida to the capital Sana’a being controlled by Al Houthis.
Griffiths is due to meet a number of Al Houthi leaders and officials from the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress during his visit to Sana’a. Saleh was brutally killed by the militia last year.
Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian aid agency says it has agreed on a “medical air bridge” to evacuate civilians for medical treatment. The airlift would include those who suffer from chronic and critical health issues such as cancer or kidney trouble.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said late Sunday its Yemen coordinator, Lise Grande, signed a deal to allow for “medical transfer of critically ill patients, by chartered air flight, to a medical facility that is equipped to manage such cases”.
The World Health Organisation’s Yemen representative, Dr. Nevio Zagaria, said 12 “conditions” had been agreed on. WHO is setting up procedures for the air bridge, which would initially operate for a six-month “trial period.”
