Houthis hinder peace plan in Yemen: UK, UAE

CAIRO – 13 February 2019: UK’s Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday “the window of opportunity to turn a ceasefire in Yemen into a plan for peace was shortening.”

A report by the Saudi state-news agency SPA revealed around 1,112 violations committed by the Houthi militias since the Hodeidah agreement came into force last Dec. 18.

These violations have resulted the death of 76 civilians and at least 492 injuries.

"We now have a shortening window of opportunity to turn the ceasefire into a durable path to peace - and stop the world’s worst humanitarian crisis," Hunt said in a statement ahead of a meeting with the U.S., UAE and Saudi foreign ministers.

Reports and news have been pointing out to continous violations by the Houthis as they continued to target residents, public areas and army positions, mainly using Iranian-made weapons and explosives.

"Real progress has been made to reach a political solution but there are also real issues of trust between the two sides which mean the agreement in Stockholm has not been fully implemented,” he added.

Reports also affirmed that Houthis are proceeding in strengthening their defensive positions by laying mines and digging trenches and that the militia continued to provoke the Yemeni National Army and the Yemeni Legal Support Coalition to hamper the Stockholm agreement.

The Stockholm Agreement, brokered through UN-led peace talks in December, was deemed a final solution to ending Yemen’s nearly four-year war.

For his part, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Twitter that Houthi rebels are jeopardising a historic chance to achieve peace in Yemen.

“A political solution to the crisis will not be achieved by the reversal of commitments, we have a historic opportunity threatened by the Houthi to jeopardise efforts made in Stockholm,” Gargash tweeted on Wednesday.

Gargash has previously stated that an international pressure is necessary to make the rebels honour the Hodeidah ceasefire and other commitments.