Houthi rebels: Four years of political intransigence

ABU DHABI, 10th September, 2018 (WAM) -- The Iran-backed Houthi militias have once again proved themselves to be the party that should be held accountable for the failure of the UN efforts to find a peaceful solution to the situation in Yemen after they had intentionally absented themselves from the UN round of negotiations in Geneva, which was held in the presence of United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths. The Houthi rebels, who perpetrated a coup against the legitimate government of Yemen in 2014, are notorious for their intransigence and attempts to circumvent any tangible international and regional efforts to sort out a solution to the crisis. Their rejection to comply with international resolutions are perfectly going in line with their failure to abide by all relevant resolutions to ensure a ceasefire in the crisis-ridden country or withdraw from the territories they have forcibly occupied in defiance with UNSC resolutions. In September 2014, the Houthi rebels refused to sign the security attachment of the Peace and National Partnership Agreement with the legitimate government of Yemen, which calls on them to disarm and withdraw from Sanaa, despite their signing of the agreement itself. Over and above, and in defiance of the very same agreement, they ensured their control over the Yemeni northern territories before heading westward to control Hodeidah and its strategic port on October 14, 2014, going all the way down toward Al Baidaa and other southern governorates, primarily Aden in 2015. The Houthi also refused to sign UNSC Resolution No 2216 in 2015 which requests them to cease fighting and withdraw from the territories they had controlled, including, Sanaa, Taiz, and Hodeidah in order to pave the ground for a meeting under the GCC umbrella to forge a peaceful agreement with the legitimate government. On June 16, 2015, an international conference supported by the UN was held in Geneva involving parties to the Yemeni crisis during which they refused to hold any dialogue with the government of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. The rebels in addition foiled all the efforts made during the negotiations by their intransigence and rejection of abiding by relevant international resolutions. They then foiled the UN envoy's plan and Kuwait negotiations in 2016 by their formation of a so-called "Supreme Political Council" to run the country in a step that was condemned by the UN specially after the legitimate government had approved the UN Envoy's plan.