Qatari mediation succeeds in halting Sa’ada war [Archives:2007/1061/Front Page]
By: Mohammed bin Sallam
SA'ADA, June 20 ) Both Yemeni authorities and Houthi loyalists have stuck to a ceasefire agreement signed last week in Doha and no breach has been recorded so far, an indication of the success of the mediation led by Qatari leadership to halt the ongoing war in Sa'ada, which first began in June 2004.
Qatar commended President Ali Abdullah Saleh's efforts to end the fighting, declaring that he is the one guaranteeing the agreement's success.
An official with the ruling General People's Congress party stated, “All military operations have been suspended and no breaches have been recorded until now.” He added that a committee formed by political leaders and involving all political powers will follow up the agreement's implementation.
Consultative Council member Muhsen Al-Olfi heads the committee, which includes members of Parliament and the Consultative Council.
“The committee, presided by Al-Olfi and formed to supervise the [ceasefire] agreement's implementation, arrived in Sa'ada last Sunday to hold discussions with several Sa'ada officials. It includes five members of Parliament and four Consultative Council members,” the official said.
Special sources noted that Aidrous Al-Naqib, head of Parliament's Yemeni Socialist Party bloc, wasn't among the committee members, further revealing that the committee comprises 10 members, including three Qatari officials.
A committee spokesman confirmed that Abdulmalik Al-Houthi remains in Sa'ada, denying reports that he has gone to Qatar.
Yasser Al-Awadhi, deputy head of Parliament's General People's Congress bloc, told September.net that neither Abdulmalik Al-Houthi nor any other Houthi leader's move to Qatar is a priority of the committee, whose main task is to supervise the ceasefire agreement's implementation. He added that such a topic will come in the fourth step.
Al-Awadhi maintains that the committee's priority now is to supervise implementation of the agreement's first article, which stresses the ceasefire's importance, as well as securing roads in order to help the committee exercise its tasks and facilitate Houthis' descent from the mountains and handing over of their medium-sized weaponry.
He added that the committee is fully aware of the difficulty of fixing a ceasefire and implementing the agreement; however, its members are on a national task mandated by political leadership and they are determined to perform their task successfully.
Moreover, Al-Awadhi revealed that the committee met with Qatari mediators in Sa'ada last Monday to acquaint them with the mechanism and the timetable for implementing the ceasefire agreement.
The committee, of which Al-Awadhi is an important member, includes the heads of Parliament's political party blocs, as well as Consultative Council members, and is presided by Al-Olfi, the council's deputy head.
According to sources, the Yemeni-Qatari committee charged with implementing the ceasefire agreement held a series of meetings with local authority officials in Sa'ada and several army leaders; however, the results of such meetings weren't announced.
The sources went on to say that the committee is focusing on creating a mechanism whereby it can contact Houthi leaders, further maintaining that no Houthi leaders left Yemen for Qatar on Tuesday.
Qatar News Agency cited Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani as saying, “What the Yemeni government and Abdulmalik Al-Houthi announced was the fruit of efforts by President Saleh and Sheikh Hamad bin Jabr Al-Thani during his recent visit to Sana'a.”
Al-Thani assured that the only guarantor of the agreement is Saleh's keenness to terminate the sedition and Houthis' keenness to respond to Saleh's call during celebrations of the 17th anniversary of Yemen's reunification.
Sources in Sana'a report that Qatar intends to establish a fund to rebuild what has been destroyed by the war in Sa'ada, noting that Qatar's Foreign Ministry has begun contacting donor countries to help secure the necessary funds to rebuild and compensate those affected by the war.
They add that such Qatari initiatives come within the framework of their mediation efforts aiming to end the Sa'ada war. Further, a technical team will arrive in Sana'a in coming days to supervise the ceasefire's implementation and evaluate the damages from the war.
On a human level, more than 100,000 Sa'ada area residents are living in camps on Yemeni-Saudi borders and other areas, awaiting the results of the mediation process, which is noticeably slow.
Yassin Sa'eed Noman, head of the Joint Meeting Parties' Supreme Council, stressed that the end of the fighting in Sa'ada was in response to a national wish that his council demanded more than once, maintaining that the halting of military operations there is an important introduction to upcoming treatment, which should come within a comprehensive national solution.
Noman further believes the inclusion of the heads of parliamentary blocs comes within the framework of the JMP's attitude advocated since the war erupted and shows readiness to work within any national efforts aimed to resolve the Sa'ada issue.
Additionally, he stressed the importance of exerting more efforts to make a permanent ceasefire, as well as searching for immediate solutions to displaced residents' problems.
Islahi leader Hamid Al-Ahmar noted that the political situation in Yemen is bad and that the entire country has been caught up in it, as all Yemenis have been affected by the situation.
At a carnival last Saturday in Jahaf city in Al-Dhale' governorate, Al-Ahmar assured that the JMP bears the nation's concerns in their minds and views all Yemeni governorates as belonging to one country.
Addressing the audience, he added that “All Yemenis are suffering as much as you and the current regime will leave nothing,” maintaining that the authorities want the chaos to dominate the entire country because they've gotten used to it.
Al-Ahmar pointed out that JMP dialogue with the ruling party was halted after they couldn't agree on clearing the after-effects of the 1994 Civil War, stressing that they will only accept serious dialogue.
He further noted that the ruling party wants opposition parties to abandon their political project; however, he stated, “We say to them that we have a project and we are a political body that can't be ignored. We present ourselves as alternatives to them because we are more eligible and capable. We will accept nothing but a democratic institutional system where there is equal citizenship.”
Despite Yemeni authorities' allegations to the contrary, a recently published report in Al-Wasat newspaper indicated that action by Arab and foreign personalities, as well as human rights organizations, was behind internationalizing the Sa'ada issue.
The report stated that Yahya Al-Houthi met with numerous human rights and political personalities, seeking to pressure the Sana'a regime to negotiate. He also requested help from attorney Adel Al-Dhahab, who now resides in Canada.
Both agreed to the Qatari mediation; however, the Qatari government's slow response prompted Al-Dhahab to resort to the German Parliament for intervention. He then met with a member of the foreign affairs committee who promised to raise the issue.
Al-Houthi and Al-Dhahab also contacted the Swiss-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, an independent center supported by Switzerland and Europe. The center helped resolve several international issues and sent two of its employees to Germany to hear Yahya Al-Houthi's demands. It then promised to form a high-level delegation to meet with President Saleh; however, Al-Houthi and Al-Dhahab requested the center coordinate with Qatar.
Moreover, Al-Dhahab suggested filing a case in the War Criminals Court, naming Ali Saleh Al-Ahmar, leader of the First Armored Division; Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, Commander of the Republican Guard, and former Sa'ada Governor Yahya Al-Amri.
Regarding breaching the ceasefire agreement, Abdulmalik Al-Houthi warned the authorities about violating the agreement, hinting that they won't remain silent unless the state ceases its crimes in Qataber and Al-Saifi, as well as numerous other areas.
Conflicts overshadowed the work of the committee in charge of the ceasefire, with sources mentioning disagreements among Houthis regarding deporting high-level leaders to Qatar, which some Houthis consider a letdown.
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