WASHINGTON/ADEN:The United States is preparing to open direct talks with Iran-aligned Houthirebels in a bid to end Yemen's war which has claimed thousands of lives, theWall Street Journal reported yesterday. The proposed initiative, the firstdirect negotiations between Washington and the Houthis in over four years,comes as the rebels have stepped up missile and drone attacks on neighboringSaudi Arabia.
"The UnitedStates is looking to prod Saudi Arabia into taking part in secret talks in Omanwith Huthi leaders in an effort to broker a ceasefire in Yemen," The WallStreet Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the plans. Themove could open the first significant channel between President Donald Trump'sadministration and the Houthis at a time when fears of a broader regional warare growing, the newspaper said.
The toppling ofthe Yemen government by the Houthis in 2015 triggered the launch of a Saudi-ledmilitary intervention to quell the rebel forces, but the Yemen conflict hassince become even more complex and multi-layered. The US negotiating team wouldbe led by Christopher Henzel, a veteran diplomat who became the Trumpadministration's first ambassador to Yemen in April, the newspaper said.
Under theadministration of former president Barack Obama, US officials held brief talkswith Houthi leaders in June 2015, just three months after the Saudiintervention began, to convince them to attend UN-sponsored peace talks inGeneva to resolve the crisis. The Geneva conference and further rounds ofnegotiations failed to resolve the crisis, which has pushed impoverished Yemento the brink of famine.
The Wall StreetJournal said US officials were set to meet with Saudi leaders to push them totake a diplomatic approach. Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi deputy defenseminister and brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, arrived in Washingtonthis week for talks with a number of US officials. The Journal said he wouldmeet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Meanwhile, Yemengovernment forces reclaimed the interim capital Aden and its presidentialpalace yesterday, a minister said, pushing back separatists who seized the cityand other parts of the south earlier this month. The separatists' losses camenearly three weeks after the pro-independence Southern Transitional Council(STC) took control of Aden, the government's base since Houthi rebels took overthe northern capital Sanaa in 2014.
Forces loyal tothe internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abedrabbo MansourHadi were able "to secure the presidential palace in Aden and thesurrounding areas," Information Minister Moammer Al-Eryani tweeted."The national army and security services have full control over theprovince's districts."
The clashesbetween the STC and government forces - who for years have fought alongsideeach other against the Houthis - have raised concerns that thefamine-threatened country could break apart entirely. The separatists' seizureof Aden was seen as a major gain allowing the Security Belt, a paramilitaryforce loyal to the STC, to press on to take other strategic areas.
However, theYemeni government drafted in reinforcements from the north and mounted a pushbackthat appears to have met little resistance. An AFP correspondent in the east ofthe city witnessed shelling by advancing government forces who came fresh fromtheir success in taking back control of Abyan province to the east yesterday. Apro-government source told AFP that fighting had erupted in the streets of Adenas loyalist troops fanned out there.
Abyan was thesecond southern province to be retaken by government forces in southern Yemenin days following clashes with the Security Belt. Earlier in the week,government forces also regained control of Shabwa province after beating backan attack by STC forces. The Yemeni interior ministry issued a statement urgingthe separatists to "lay down their arms" and surrender.
The new fightingcomes despite repeated calls for a ceasefire by a Saudi-led coalition, whichintervened in the war in 2015 in support of the government after the Houthisseized the capital Sanaa and much of Yemen - the Arab world's poorest nation.Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, mostlycivilians, in what the United Nations has described as the world's worsthumanitarian crisis.
While they havealso fought against the Houthis, STC forces want to see South Yemen regain theindependence it gave up with unification in 1990. The separatists want toaddress what they say is a history of exploitation and marginalization of theirpeople. "We will sail together towards the safe harbor chosen by ourpeople who have fought for this for so long," STC leader AidarousAl-Zoubeidi - a popular and charismatic figure in the south - said in a speechon Tuesday.
The separatistshave received support and training from the United Arab Emirates, even thoughit is a key pillar in the Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni governmentagainst the Houthi rebels. The Yemeni government has repeatedly accused the UAEof "being responsible for the armed rebellion" in the south and urgedit to stop backing "this militia". Analysts say the break betweenHadi's government and the separatists reflects a wider rift between Riyadh andAbu Dhabi.
But the UAE hasrejected accusations it supported the separatists in their seizure of Aden andsaid it was "exerting all efforts to de-escalate the situation inYemen". In a joint statement this week, Saudi Arabia and the UAE calledfor cooperation with a coalition committee and for peace talks in the Saudicity of Jeddah. - Agencies