Coalition did not prevent Houthis from attending peace talks

JEDDAH: A Houthi delegation who failed to attend peace talks last week in Geneva, were not prevented in any way, the Arab coalition said Tuesday.
The coalition, which is supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemen, has said the Houthis were provided with all the means to travel to the Swiss capital to attend UN-backed negotiations.
The Houthis were accused of ‘sabotage’ by the government after they did not show for the talks. “We want the UN to be firmer in bringing the other party to the negotiations”, said Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Yamani, after three days of talks with UN envoy Stephen Griffiths.
The Houthi group wanted the United Nations to guarantee that the flight carrying its delegation would not be inspected by coalition forces.
“They would have like to get here, we didn’t make conditions sufficiently correct to get them here,” Griffiths told a news conference, declining to elaborate.
But the government called the Houthi no-show totally irresponsible: “If they were sincere in reaching peace, they should have come, even if we were meeting in separate rooms,” said Al-Yamani.
The Iran-backed Houthis have fired numerous missiles into civilian areas in Saudi Arabia from across the border in Yemen.
The Houthi militia have been planting landmines in areas under their control, which Yemenis continue to pay with their lives, said Arab coalition Spokesperson Col. Turki Al-Maliki.
The militia and Hezbollah are trading in narcotics to finance the war effort, he said.

Coalition did not prevent Houthis from attending peace talks