Yemen’s Exiled Government: No Talks Until Houthis Withdraw

Arab-led Coalition Launch Major Offensive in Mareb

President Hadi’s exiled government said today it will not participate in UN-brokered peace talks later this week unless the Houthis, Ansar Allah, accept the UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls on the Houthis to withdraw from territories they’ve captured since last September, including the capital Sanaa.

The Houthis and their allies, former president Saleh, who ruled over Yemen for 33 years before being forced from power in 2012, and army units still loyal to him, have so far not accepted the UN resolution and continue their hold on some of the territories they had captured, including Sanaa. Since then, a Saudi/UAE-led anti-Houthi coalition has pushed them out of southern provinces, including the post city of Aden. Hadi’s government, however, had said on Friday it would attend the UN meeting in Muscat, Oman, but are now the start of the talks is contingent on Houthi acceptance of UNSC resolution.   

Meanwhile, the news agencies are reporting that Saudi/UAE-led collation forces launched a major offensive with 12,000 fighters against the Houthi/Saleh forces in Mareb province to break the Houthi siege of Mareb city and push them out of the province. Mareb lies 200 km (125 miles) east of Sanaa, on a major highway linking the city to the capital. The control of Mareb by coalition forces will be one of the biggest defeats for the Houthis in the yearlong civil war.

Photo credit: Taez during clashes between Yemeni exiled government and Houthi forces; 9 September 2015 (@Ahmad al-Bash/AFP/France24)

UN Peace Talks on Yemen to Begin Monday in Geneva

Huthis Capture Provincial Capital Near Saudi Border

UN-sponsored Yemen peace talks will start in Geneva on Monday. The Huthi delegation to the talks left Sanaa International Airport on board a UN aircraft on Sunday. Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and GCC Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani arrived at Geneva’s Palais des Nations for consultations before the start of peace talks.

In Yemen, the Huthi insurgents, aka AnsarAllah, supported by elements of Yemeni army loyal to former president Saleh, captured the town of al-Hazm, the capital of al-Jawf province on the border of Saudi Arabia. The town fell after heavy fighting with tribal militia loyal to exiled president Hadi (Reuters, 14 June). The capture of al-Hazm a day before Geneva peace talks is an important victory for the Huthis.

File photo: Houthi fighters outside Sanaa airport; 28 March 2015 (Reuters)

Rouhani in New York

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had a busy schedule today in New York. In separate meetings, he has held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, French President Francois Hollande, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and will be meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday. Rouhani and other heads of state and government are in New York to attend the 69^th session of UN General Assembly.

President Rouhani will address the General Assembly on Thursday at 9:00 AM.

Photo credit: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; New York, 23 September 2014. (Twitter@hassanRouhani)

Iran Seeks UN Help to Free Abducted Border Guards

No Sign of Abducted Guards in Pakistan - PAK Foreign Ministry

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif today asked for help from the United Nations to secure the release of the abducted Iranian border guards.

In an urgent plea sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday. Zarif said, “Mere condemnation of acts of terrorism is not enough,” and asked for concrete actions by the UN and the international community to free the guards. [Facebook (Zarif)/AFP, 27 March]

The Baluch militant group Jaish-ul Adl abducted five frontier guards on 6 February and said this week that it has executed one of them. Ban on Tuesday condemned the killing as an “appalling act” and urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice. (AFP, 27 March)

Meanwhile, Pakistan said today that there are no signs of abducted Iranian guards in Pakistan.

“Our authorities have combed Pakistani territory in search of missing Iranian guards, however, there are no clues that they are in Pakistan,” said Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, adding that the body of one of the guards reportedly killed by his captors was not found on Pakistani territory. (AAP, 27 March)

Aslam also said Pakistan is “neither apologetic with Iran” and nor wants that Iran will have “aggressive attitude.”.

The guards are believed to have been transferred to the Pakistani side of Baluchistan Iran on several occasions, and as late as yesterday, has hinted of a military incursion into Pakistan to free them.

UN Statement on Revoking Invitation to Iran for Geneva II

The United Nations today revoked its invitation to Iran to attend the Geneva II conference on Syria. The following are statements by the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations on today’s developments:

“In that spirit, in a series of meetings and telephone conversations, senior Iranian officials assured the Secretary-General that Iran understood and supported the basis and goal of the Conference, including the Geneva Communiqué.  The Secretary-General is deeply disappointed by Iranian public statements today that are not at all consistent with that stated commitment.  He continues to urge Iran to join the global consensus behind the Geneva Communiqué.  Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, he has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran’s participation.

The Secretary-General looks forward to joining the initiating parties -- the Russian Federation and the United States -- as well as the other States and organizations that will attend this long-awaited and hugely important push for peace.  The Syrian parties, the region and the international community have an opportunity and a responsibility to end the violence and begin a transition towards a new Syria.”

The UN News Center also reported that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had invited Iran to attend Geneva II after Foreign minister Javad Zarif “assured” him that Iran understands that the basis of talks is “full implementation of an action plan adopted in the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 (Geneva I).” (UN News Center, 20 January)

  

Earlier, the Iranian ambassador to the UN had issued a statement announcing that Iran would not attend Geneva II if required to accept Geneva I communiqué. Soon after the statement, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon withdrew his invitation to Iran.

File Photo: Flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran (center) at UN Headquarters. (thetower.org) 

U.N. Invites Iran to Attend Geneva II

Syrian National Coalition Threatens to Withdraw from Peace Talks

The United Nations Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon today invited Iran to attend the Geneva II conference on Syrian conflict in the Swiss city of Montreux on Wednesday.

Ban told reporters at U.N. headquarters that he had issued the invitation to Iran after lengthy talks in recent days with Iranian Foreign Minister Javid Zarif.

“Foreign Minister Zarif and I agree that the goal of the negotiations is to establish, by mutual consent, a transitional governing body with full executive powers,” Ban said. “It was on that basis that Foreign Minister Zarif pledged that Iran would play a positive and constructive role in Montreux.”

The US State Department said it viewed the Secretary General's invitation to Iran “as conditioned on Iran's explicit and public support for the full implementation of the Geneva I communiqué, including the establishment of a transitional governing body.” (AP, 19 January)

UPDATE: The Syria National Coalition said today that it will withdraw from the peace talks unless Iran invitation was retracted by the U.N. (Reuters)

File photo: A 19-year old ISIS fighter in Syria. (@p_vanostaeyen/Twitter)

Syria Preparing to Surrender Chemical-Weapons Stockpile

Syria appears to be moving its chemical weapons to a small number of central locations in a sign that the regime is preparing to cooperate with an international effort to rapidly destroy its entire arsenal of deadly toxins, the Washington Post quoted U.S. officials as saying.

“The movement of chemicals and equipment in recent days — which initially spurred fears that Syrian officials were trying to hide parts of their stockpile — suggests instead that the weapons are being consolidated ahead of a first visit by inspection teams that arrived in the country last week,” administration officials said. (Washington Post, 6 October)

“There are encouraging signals, but we are really in the first weeks of the process,” said a senior State Department official.

Photo credit: UN vehicles transport a team of experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Damascus, October 5, 2013. (Khaled Al-Hariri/Reuters/WashPost)