Former UN envoy says Yemen political deal was once shut earlier than Saudi airstrikes … – Wall Boulevard Journal

Up to date April 26, 2015 7:forty five p.m. ET
UNITED NATIONS—Yemen’s warring political factions have been on the verge of an influence-sharing deal when Saudi-led airstrikes started a month in the past, derailing the negotiations, the United International locations envoy who mediated the talks mentioned.

Jamal Benomar, who spearheaded the negotiations except he resigned closing week, instructed The Wall Boulevard Journal the Saudi bombing marketing campaign towards Iran-linked Houthi rebels has hardened positions on a key level—the composition of an government physique to steer Yemen’s stalled transition. This will complicate new attempts to reach a solution, he said.

“When this campaign started, one thing that was significant but went unnoticed is that the Yemenis were close to a deal that would institute power-sharing with all sides, including the Houthis,” said Mr. Benomar, a Moroccan diplomat.

Mr. Benomar is scheduled to address the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors on Monday and report on the suspended political talks.

Most Yemeni political factions agree talks were progressing in the run-up to the Saudi air campaign, but their views vary on Mr. Benomar’s assertion that a deal was close.

This round of U.N.-brokered talks—which began in January and included 12 political and tribal factions—represented a crucial part of a mission to install a unified government in Yemen, the poorest Arab country and home to al Qaeda’s most dangerous offshoot.

The Houthi rebels, who have overrun significant parts of the country in the past eight months, had agreed to remove their militias from the cities they were occupying under the deal that had been taking shape. The U.N. had worked out details of a new government force to replace them, Mr. Benomar said.

In exchange, Western-backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who has since fled the country, would have been part of an executive body that would run the country temporarily, Mr. Benomar said.

The Houthis had agreed to that reduced role for Mr. Hadi until the Saudi military intervention began on March 26. At that point, the Houthis hardened their position on this key point and opposed any role for Mr. Hadi in government, Mr. Benomar said.

Saudi-backed factions have also hardened their positions, saying the Houthis shouldn’t be granted political power.

Several Yemeni political factions, which were also interested in power-sharing, said the military tensions in the capital led to feelings of unease during negotiations. In their takeover of the capital, the Houthis kidnapped members of rival political parties.

“We did not like the Houthi plan on the table, but we were willing to sign it since it reflected reality. It was either that or no deal,” said Mohammed Abulahoum, president of Yemen’s Justice and Building Party.

The air campaign transformed Yemen into a battlefield for a broader contest over regional power between Shiite Iran and Sunni countries led by Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis want to restore Mr. Hadi to the presidency and also support a separate armed political faction named Islah, which is anti-Houthi. Iran supports the Houthis, who abide by a Shiite offshoot of Islam. Many Yemenis accuse both countries of meddling in their affairs.

The Houthis took over the capital San’a and the government and then advanced on the south.As they approached the port city of Aden, where Mr. Hadi had taken refuge, he fled the country and ended up in Saudi Arabia.

Yemen’s troubles mark an abrupt turnabout from what the international community had once hailed as a success story.

The 2011 Arab Spring protests triggered political change in Yemen, a largely peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy. Groups that felt oppressed or excluded for decades under the former regime, such as the Houthis, were supposed to take part in the new government.

But that transition stalled in 2014. In the two months leading up to the Saudi air campaign, the Houthis and other parties insisted on a reduced role for Mr. Hadi, blaming him for the slow pace of reform.

Mr. Hadi, his Saudi allies and other political factions opposed the terms for the presidency being hammered out by Mr. Benomar.

“A very detailed agreement was being worked out, but there was one important issue on which there was no agreement, and that was what to do with the presidency,” Mr. Benomar said. “We were under no illusion that implementation of this would be easy.”

Two different Arab states—Qatar and Morocco—have been keen to host new rounds of Yemen peace talks. However after each nations joined the Saudi-led militia coalition, the Houthis rejected these venues, consistent with Mr. Benomar.

President Hadi has steered that talks resume within the Saudi capital of Riyadh beneath Saudi auspices. However that was once a non-starter for the Houthis.

A senior diplomat accustomed to the negotiations mentioned the Saudis additionally intervened to forestall an influence-sharing deal that would come with the Houthis and that might supply 30 % of the cupboard and parliament to ladies.

Saudi Arabia declared remaining week that it was once moving to a brand new section within the Yemen marketing campaign extra keen on searching for a political resolution. But it surely left open the choice of endured militia motion, and has saved up airstrikes at a powerful % for the reason that announcement.

Mr. Benomar mentioned he would inform the Safety Council on Monday that simplest U.N.-led talks in a impartial place can have any probability of success.

On Saturday, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania was once named as the brand new U.N. envoy for Yemen.

On Sunday, Yemeni officers suggested a couple of obvious strikes by way of the Saudi coalition in opposition to Houthi objectives amid lethal clashes between Houthi militants and forces aligned with Mr. Hadi.

Strikes hit the capital San’a in addition to goals in power-wealthy Marib province, officers mentioned. A number of southern provinces additionally noticed strikes, together with one who hit a convoy of Houthi opponents heading to the southern port metropolis of Aden.

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