Oman proposes to mediate for reconciliation in Yemen

CAIRO – 31 May 2017: Gulf sources revealed to Egypt Today that Omani Foreign Affairs Minister Youssef Ben Alawi discussed on Wednesday with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry a mediation to resolve the conflict between current Yemeni President Abd Rabo Mansour Hady, and former Yemeni president Ali Abd Allah Saleh and Houthi militias.

This step comes as the armed conflict in Yemen hits its third year, which has resulted in more than 10,000 casualties, hundreds of thousands homeless, and the spread of fatal deceases such as Cholera.

U.N. aid Chief Stephen O'Brien explained on Tuesday that if the war further extends to the “strategic” port city, Yemeni people will be under a greater threat of “starvation and famine,” which would never be remedied.

O’brien’s words came after the Yemeni government and Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia threatened last month to attack the Red Sea port of Hodeida where most food and humanitarian supply reach Yemen, according to Reuters.

The Omani government is reaching out to all Yemeni parties to accept plans that have been proposed last week by the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Weld El-Sheikh Ahmed, during his visit to Yemen.

The plans include confidence building measures, such as putting Hodeidah port under the control of a neutral party, opening Sanaa airport for Civilian traffic, and allowing the central bank to pay civil servants their delayed salaries, according to Reuters.

As Reuters reported, Omani sources stated that Houthis approved of the measures included in the plan stressing upon starting with paying the employees’ salaries first.

Hady had moved the central bank from Sanaa to Aden last year. On the other hand, a point of disagreement is the identity of the third part that would administer the Hodeidah port.