UN talks on Yemen key to a political solution

ABU DHABI, 14th November 2015 (WAM) - A United Arab Emirates newspaper has said negotiations will need to eventually restore President Hadi’s authority and force Al Houthis to retreat. The English language daily 'Gulf news' said in a commentary yesterday the imminent United Nations peace talks on Yemen should be an important milestone to finding the essential political solution to the civil war. "It is important that both President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Al Houthi rebels have agreed to attend and both have accepted that the agenda will cover an immediate ceasefire and surrender of heavy weapons, before moving on to discuss a constitutional process that the UN has said will be based on UN Resolution 2216 and the conclusion of the earlier National Dialogue< the paper noted. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir represents the leader of the regional coalition fighting for the restoration of Hadi’s legitimate government so it is also encouraging that he remains optimistic that the conference will find a way forward to "peace, security and stability in Yemen". Nonetheless, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that "it is critical that all sides lend their political support and engage in good faith. There is no military solution to the conflict". "The complicated situation in Yemen and the intractable nature of its deep-rooted problems mean that even if a ceasefire is agreed, any political settlement will be very hard. But that is no reason not to pursue the talks so that a peaceful route forward can be defined and is ready to be used when required," the paper stated. It added that doubts over the talks were re-kindled this week when Yemen’s Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said that Al Houthis’ recapture of positions in southern Yemen shows they are "not serious" about peace talks. "The eventual peace talks will need to restore the legitimate government and Al Houthis will need to retreat to their tribal base in the north. It is hard to see what future role their current ally and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh can play, but a further challenge to all Yemenis is the active presence of Al Qaida in some parts of Yemen, which has taken advantage of the fighting to seize some strategic areas," the paper concluded. – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395287958252.html