Sanaa’s latest stance on the extension of the ceasefire
A member of the Yemeni Ansarullah National Negotiating Committee described the Saudi coalition’s response to the current ceasefire as negative, noting that Sanaa has not yet held talks with the United Nations on extending the ceasefire.
Hans Grunberg, the UN special envoy to Yemen, said he was in talks with various parties to the Yemeni war to extend the ceasefire and called on them to agree to extend the ceasefire in order to boost its benefits for the Yemeni people.
While Washington is in favor of the Saudi coalition and its henchmen, it has said through its Landerking team in Yemen, its representative in Jordan, that it is somewhat optimistic about the extension of the ceasefire and is working to achieve what he calls an ‘end to the war’. Sanaa, meanwhile, sees the Saudi coalition’s refusal to implement the terms of the current ceasefire as a negative sign and a sign of its lack of seriousness in moving towards peace.
Abdul Malik al-Ajri, a member of the Yemeni Ansarullah National Negotiating Committee, said that the Saudi coalition’s actions in the ceasefire were not optimistic because the most important clauses of the current ceasefire, namely weekly flights and the cessation of spy flights, had not been implemented.
He stated: “We have not yet discussed the issue of extending the ceasefire with the United Nations, and our focus is primarily on implementing the provisions of the ceasefire, and any extension will depend on the improvement of the humanitarian situation.”
“Unless there is a commitment to the terms of the ceasefire, there is no basis for discussing its extension,” the Yemeni official added. “Any extension will be made according to the evaluation of the previous stage and the improvement of the human conditions.”
Al-Ajri did not elaborate on the humanitarian situation that is set to improve, but speculation suggests that Sanaa’s wage bill could make expediting the exchange of prisoners a condition for extending any ceasefire.
A UN envoy announced a two-month ceasefire in Yemen on April 2, halting ground, naval and air strikes, facilitating the entry of 18 fuel-carrying ships into al-Hudaidah ports and authorizing weekly flights to / from Sanaa airport.
Sanaa Airport just saw its first flight last week after a six-year siege by the Saudi coalition. The flight was based on a temporary ceasefire agreement and was to be completed a month and a half in advance.
Meanwhile, Mehdi al-Mashat, chairman of the Yemeni Supreme Political Council, stressed on Sunday evening that the Saudi coalition had violated thousands of ceasefires in Yemen, saying that the coalition had carried out more than 2,000 rocket and artillery attacks during the ceasefire.
He stressed that the Yemeni people do not feel any difference between the ceasefire period and the non-ceasefire period, and stressed that Yemen is not against the extension of the ceasefire. Nonetheless, he cannot accept a ceasefire in which the people’s problems continue.
