Saleh threatens Houthis with war [Archives:2007/1078/Front Page]
By: Mohammed Bin Sallam
SANA'A, August 19 ) President Ali Abdullah Saleh threatened Houthi leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi with military settlement. Saleh told Al-Wasat independent newspaper in its issue published last Wednesday, “If the Houthi leader does not behave himself and abide by all the decisions of the committee, there is no other alternative other than settling the situation militarily. It is the final and decisive solution.”
May news net, a General People's Congress affiliate, said that members of the Qatari delegation assisting in implementation of the ceasefire agreement left Sana'a last Thursday for Al-Doha. Their departure was in response to the obstinacy of Al-Houthi who has refused to abide by all articles of the ceasefire agreement as well as putting obstacles in the way of its implementation within the 20-day time limit.
“The efforts exerted by the presidential committee consisting of representatives of political parties in the parliament along with Qatar delegation to supervising the implementation of Sa'ada ceasefire agreement during the last months until Thursday, have reached to impasse. This is ascribed to the stubborn attitude of Abdul Malik Al-Houthi and his loyalists according to the scheduled ceil to implement the articles of the ceasefire agreement,” a source from the presidential committee revealed to May news.
The presidential committee in conjunction with the Qatari delegation determined a 20-day timetable to implement articles of the ceasefire agreement in light of its assessment of the tasks achieved by the committee in the last period.
The committee along with the Qatari delegation considered the timetable a final, biding and irrevocable program. A copy of this program will be submitted to the local authority and Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, provided that the two parties announce their commitment to implementing the program within 48 hours maximum.
Sheikh Saleh Habra, representative of Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, denied that Houthi loyalists have erected new military sites or raised additional conditions outside original articles of the ceasefire agreement signed in Al-Doha on July 16.
In a statement published by Al-Eshtraki.net, Habra stated, “We completely deny that new military sites have been originated since ceasing fire two months ago. We also assure you that what has been published by the media in this regard is baseless.”
In respect to raising additional conditions not present in the schedule approved by the presidential committee, Habra said, “This is not true too. We did not pose any additional conditions outside the articles of the announced agreement. What we did is that we made a response to the words of the two committees in the specified timetable.” The response, signed by Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, contained a group of technical remarks and measures related to the articles of the current agreement.
Media sources mentioned last Thursday that Houthi loyalists established new military sites in the area of Takhia and raised new conditions which were not included in the timetable approved by the Qatari and presidential committees.
Well-informed sources stated that Qatari committee members returned to Al-Doha for the second time since signing the agreement two months ago to negotiate with their political leaders.
Sources close to members of the presidential committee and Houthi loyalists reported that Qatari delegates returned to Al-Doha to negotiate on some articles, assuring their contact with the two parties. They intend to return to Sana'a soon.
Last week, Qatari delegates participated in a discussion on issues raised by Al-Houthi in response to what was included in the presidential timetable for applying remaining articles of the ceasefire agreement.
According to the same sources, the message Al-Houthi sent to the two committees included issues ignored by their schedule such as a decree of amnesty and a return to normalcy. It also highlighted the necessity of withdrawing army forces from villages and farms of the citizens seized during the war.
Lack of trust between the conflicting parties as well as the continuation of media campaigns accusing Houthis of terrorism and conspiracy have contributed to hindering full implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Houthis informed presidential committee members about the continuation of clashes in Sha'llalah in Washah district in Hajah governorate as well as in Thowaib in Haidan district. They also demanded that priority be given to restoring stability in those two areas as related to the first article of the agreement.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced the commencement of implementing their three-month operation, valued at $1.3 million, to provide food assistance to 36,000 people displaced by the armed conflict in Sa'ada governorate.
The United Nations mentioned that this operation is a continuation of the WFP's previous two-month operation, by which some 20,000 displaced received assistance during June and July.
The statement also pointed out that Mohammed El Kouhene, WFP representative in Yemen, ensured the continuation of providing food assistance to aid humanitarian efforts in Sa'ada.
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