Coalition prefers final Yemen solution over ‘short’ truce

Riyadh / AFP

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in support of Yemen’s government would prefer a broad political settlement to a ceasefire, its spokesman said on Monday.
“I think now it’s not a question of talking about a ceasefire,” Major General Ahmed Assiri said. Late on Sunday a Houthi rebel leader, Saleh Al Sammad, proposed a truce on the country’s border with Saudi Arabia in exchange for a halt to Saudi-led air strikes on his forces.
Assiri said the coalition welcomes “any effort to have a genuine political settlement” under a peace initiative proposed last month by US Secretary of State John Kerry. This is preferable to a “short ceasefire without any control, without any observation”, he said, adding that “the Saudi border is not and will not be the subject of any discussion”. Previous truces in the 18-month war collapsed.
“If they want to have a ceasefire they know what they have to do,” Assiri said, referring to terms of the Kerry plan which were to be refined under United Nations mediation among the parties. The initiative calls for a rebel withdrawal from seized areas including the capital Sanaa which they have held since late 2014.
Sammad heads a new council appointed in August by the rebels and their allies to run Yemen, a move which led to the suspension of UN-brokered peace talks.