Sheikh Sultan al-Aradah, the pro-Hadi governor of energy-rich Ma’rib province, was also named a member of the council. So was Tariq Saleh, a high-profile militant commander who has close ties with the UAE.
Faraan: Last week, UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced a two-month ceasefire that went into effect on April 2, saying the truce could be renewed with the consent of the parties.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the truce “must be a first step to ending Yemen’s devastating war,” urging the concerned parties to build on the opportunity to “resume an inclusive and comprehensive Yemeni political process.”
The deal stipulates halting offensive military operations, including cross-border attacks, and allowing fuel-laden ships to enter Yemen’s lifeline al-Hudaydah port and commercial flights in and out of the airport in the capital Sana’a “to predetermined destinations in the region.”
Grundberg said the Saudi-led coalition responded positively to the truce proposal. Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war against Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and several Western states.
The objective was to bring back to power the Hadi regime and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.
The war has stopped well short of all of its goals, despite killing hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and turning the entire country into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
