Off the wire
• Influenza death toll rises to 12 in Taiwan  • Kenya to review tariffs for power investors  • Iran opposes disintegration of borders by foreign elements  • Kenya turns to private sector to bridge infrastructure financing gap  • 50 Nigerians rescued from human trafficking  • Russian military starts major anti-terror offensive in Syria: defense minister  • China donates aid materials to Tanzania's Red Cross Society  • China, U.S. to discuss law enforcement cooperation  • Spotlight: Overseas observers praise CPC's resolve to improve governance, self-supervision  • Macao chief executive delivers 2017 policy address, stressing livelihood of locals  
You are here: 　 Home

Yemen warring parties differ on Kerry's ceasefire plan

Xinhua, November 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declared Tuesday that the Saudi-led Arab coalition and Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels have tentatively agreed to a cessation of hostilities in Yemen commencing November 17.

Kerry said that the Yemeni warring sides agreed to form a consensus government that will be announced before the end of the this year.

Kerry announced his statement while speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi after conducting recent U.S.-brokered talks between representatives from the Shiite Houthis and the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Oman's capital Muscat.

However, Yemen's Foreign Minister Abdul-Malik Mekhlafi refused the comments made by the U.S. Secretary of State, saying that "Yemen's government doesn't know anything about Kerry's plan about ceasefire."

The Yemeni Minister said that "Kerry's reports are just attempts to reach an agreement with Houthis with no participation from the legitimate government side."

He added that "Kerry's statement doesn't concern Yemen's government anyway as we aren't aware of it and any unilateral agreement will definitely fail."

Another government source told Xinhua that "the current U.S. administration is trying hard to make achievements before the end of its term by forming baseless agreements that only foil peace efforts in Yemen."

Earlier this month, Yemen's internationally recognized President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced his rejection of a plan submitted by the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh, saying that its contents "bare seeds of war in the country."

The UN roadmap called for naming a new vice president after the withdrawal of the Shiite Houthi rebels from the capital Sanaa and other northern provinces and handing over all heavy weapons to a third party.

The UN plan also suggested forming a new government that will be formed from the two-warring sides and would not be led by President Hadi who would transfer his power to the new vice president.

The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Houthis and Saleh's forces hold most of Yemen's northern regions while government forces backed by Saudi-led military coalition share control of the rest of the country including seven southern provinces.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies. Endit