International coalition announces unilateral ceasefire in Yemen
Seven years after the start of the civil war in Yemen, the international coalition has for the second time implemented a temporary ceasefire to facilitate peace negotiations under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The first, adopted unilaterally in April 2020 because of the threat of COVID-19, was part of efforts to tackle the virus in a country already hit by one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises, but this one has coincided with another temporary truce implemented by the Houthis.
The Saudi-led international coalition announced on Tuesday that a unilateral ceasefire in Yemen would take effect from 6am local time on Wednesday. Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki explained that the group's main reasons for suspending its military operations against Yemeni insurgents were to "create conditions conducive to successful consultations and a favourable environment for the holy month of Ramadan to make peace, and to achieve security and stability in Yemen".
On the eve of the Muslim holy month, which begins next Saturday, the Wahhabi kingdom and its partners have decided to temporarily halt hostilities to lend credibility to the GCC-organised summit in Riyadh, a meeting that was not attended by the Shiite militias, who refused to set foot on the territory of their main adversary in the conflict since 2014. Officials from across the Persian Gulf, representatives of the Yemeni government-in-exile and its allied factions have gathered in the Saudi capital.
The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Nayef al-Hajraf, hosted its six members on Tuesday for a summit that will last until 7 April and is aimed at sealing a final peace in Yemen. The prospect seems overly ambitious, especially given the absence of one of the factions that has been fighting since the start of the war, but the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, welcomed the decision.
The ceasefire decreed by the international coalition overlapped until Wednesday with the one approved by the Houthis over the weekend. As of Wednesday night, the truce remains in place, but will end if the coalition does not meet the insurgents' demands, which include lifting the blockade of territory under their control and releasing all rebel prisoners. Riyadh is unlikely to give the green light to these demands and hostilities will resume.
Moreover, the Houthis do not recognise the rival ceasefire either. "The blockade imposed on Yemen is considered a military action because it is imposed by force of arms," said Mohamed al Bukaiti, a senior insurgent official. "If the blockade is not lifted, the aggressor coalition's statement on the suspension of its military operations will have no meaning, given that the suffering of Yemenis as a result of the blockade is greater than that caused by the war itself, which implies the continuation of our military operations to break the blockade," he said.
Houthi rebels attacked an oil facility belonging to state oil company Saudi Aramco in the city of Jeddah with drones on Friday. The aerial offensive, which set fire to two crude oil storage tanks, caused a huge fireball and then left a plume of smoke that set off alarm bells during free practice at the Formula One circuit. It was an eye-catching attack that damaged the Wahhabi kingdom's international image and affected oil markets.
Yemen is a fractured country, prey to a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia to gain weight and influence in the region. Tehran is backing the insurgents with arms and funds, who are united by their Shi'a profession. Riyadh sought to quell revolts in its backyard that threatened the stability of the regime in the framework of the Arab Spring, weaving a coalition with other Gulf monarchies that has received support from the United States.