Omani mediators fail to convince Houthis to renew truce

AL-MUKALLA: Omani mediators have been unable to persuade the Iran-backed Houthis to renew a truce brokered by the United Nations, which ended last month, as the Yemeni government confronts mounting public pressure to begin military operations to punish the Houthis for hitting oil facilities, a government official told Arab News on Saturday.

Oman — which hosts Houthi officials — intervened after other mediators, including the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, had tried and failed to get the Houthis to agree to prolong the truce.

Despite pressure from Oman, the Houthis rejected the UN envoy’s plan for peace in Yemen, which calls on the group to pay public employees in their territories, and partly de-escalate their siege of Taiz, among other conditions.

“Even the Omanis were unable to make a breakthrough. They are, nevertheless, making an effort,” the Yemeni government official, who requested anonymity, said.

Despite the Yemeni government allowing commercial flights to depart from Sanaa airport and facilitating the arrival of more than 50 fuel ships in Houthi-controlled Hodeidah, the Houthis have continued their siege of Taiz, have still not paid public servants from the oil revenues, and have continued attacks on residential areas in Taiz and other cities. All these actions are in breach of the terms of the UN-brokered truce.

To make matters worse, the Houthis launched drone assaults on oil terminals in southern Yemen, causing the country’s oil shipments to halt for the first time in years.

As international mediation failed and Houthi attacks mounted, the country’s Presidential Leadership Council has faced mounting pressure to resume military operations and abandon UN-brokered peace agreements with the Houthis.

The same Yemeni official said that political leaders, military officials, and even some council members have requested that military options be used to force the Houthis to accept the peace plans. However, the Yemeni government chose to respond to the Houthi escalation with political and economic pressure, despite the requests.

“Prudence is required in this situation,” the official said.

The Yemeni government labeled the Houthis terrorists — and asked that the international community do the same — last month after they attacked oil facilities and ships in the provinces of Shabwa and Hadramout.

The Yemeni government also adopted strong economic measures, including shifting large corporations’ headquarters to Aden, urging foreign shipping firms to avoid doing business with Houthi-controlled ports, and blacklisting traders who do business with the Houthis.

Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak met with Barbara A. Leaf, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, on Friday and asked that America back the Yemeni government’s punitive actions against the Houthis, and that it label the militia as terrorists.

Those who support the use of military force against the Houthis, including Yahiya Abu Hatem, a military analyst and adviser to Yemen’s defense minister, argue that the international community and Yemen’s government have exhausted all peaceful means of persuading the Houthis to cooperate with efforts to end the war.

“It is extremely difficult to negotiate a peaceful solution with an organization that threatens the Yemeni people and their wealth. With this group, a military operation is the only viable choice,” Abu Hatem told Arab News.