Kingdom and Yemeni government are \u2018keen on extending the truce\u2019, says Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
\nRiyadh
\nSaudi Arabia\u2019s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Al Arabiya TV that the efforts to extend the truce in Yemen still stand.
\nThe kingdom, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen and the Yemeni government are \u201ckeen on extending the truce,\u201d the Saudi-owned TV reported on Wednesday quoting the minister.
\nOn October 3, the United Nations envoy for Yemen scrambled to revive a six-month truce after a missed deadline raised fears of a return to war and prompted rebel threats against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
\nSpecial envoy Hans Grundberg pledged \u201crelentless efforts\u201d to reinvigorate the truce, which lapsed in the last week of September after bringing a sharp reduction in clashes since it came into force in April.
\nIran-backed Houthi rebels have been fighting a Saudi-led pro-government coalition since 2015 in a war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and created the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crisis according to the UN.
\nGrundberg\u2019s plan to extend the truce — which was initially set to last two months and was renewed twice, to half a year — and to broaden it to new areas of the agreement was rejected by the Houthis.
\nHis proposal included paying civil servants\u2019 salaries, opening routes into the rebel-blockaded city of Taez, expanding commercial flights from the rebel-held capital Sanaa and allowing more fuel ships into the port of Hodeida, also controlled by the Houthis.
\nIt also contained commitments to release detainees, resume an \u201cinclusive\u201d political process and tackle economic issues including public services.
\nBut the northern-based Houthis, who seized Sanaa in 2014 and control large swathes of the Arabian peninsula\u2019s poorest country, said the proposal \u201cdoes not live up to the demands of the Yemeni people and does not establish the peace process\u201d.
\n\u201cThe Yemeni people will not be deceived by false promises,\u201d the Supreme Political Council said, demanding revenues from Yemen\u2019s oil and gas resources, according to the Houthis\u2019 Yemen News Agency.
\nAid groups have raised the alarm for the long-suffering people of Yemen, including 23.4 million Yemenis who are dependent on humanitarian aid.
\n\u201cOver the past six months, the truce had given millions of people in Yemen respite from fighting and hope for a more lasting settlement of the conflict,\u201d said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
\n\u201cWe call on all parties to keep the dialogue open and put the needs of the Yemeni people first.\u201d
\nAs well as fighting on the ground, hostilities have been marked by coalition bombing raids and rebel drone-and-missile attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, a major partner in the anti-Houthi alliance.
\nThe Houthis\u2019 military spokesman Yahya Saree warned oil companies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE \u201cto organise their situation and leave\u201d, in a tweet.
\nAs Yemen\u2019s fate remained unclear, government sources reported attacks by the Houthis south of Marib, the government\u2019s last northern stronghold and key to Yemen\u2019s oil resources.
\nHouthi shelling was also reported in Taez, Yemen\u2019s third biggest city, which has been blockaded by the rebels since 2016. Sporadic clashes have continued even during the truce period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kingdom and Yemeni government are \u2018keen on extending the truce\u2019, says Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud Riyadh Saudi Arabia\u2019s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Al Arabiya TV that the efforts to extend the truce in Yemen still stand. The kingdom, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen and the Yemeni government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11050,3947],"class_list":{"0":"post-289062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-saudi-fm","9":"tag-yemen"},"yoast_head":"\n