Yemen's Ansarullah demand direct talks with Saudi Arabia

Yemen’s Ansarullah says it should directly talk to Saudi Arabia because the kingdom's current interlocutors in peace talks for Yemen have no authority of their own.

Interviewed by the Arabic-language Lebanon-based TV al-Mayadin, Ansarullah’s spokesman and chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said the representatives of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi — who has resigned as Yemen’s president — have no authority to make decisions on their own, which, he said, has caused problems in the talks.

While the movement has insisted that non-concerned parties should stay out of the negotiations, he said Riyadh keeps manipulating the other side and has rejected every solution without having been involved in its negotiation.

“Time should not be wasted talking to Riyadh’s agents,” Abdulsalam said referring to Hadi’s representatives. “Rather, we should enter direct negotiations with the Saudis [themselves].”

Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015, with internal sources putting the toll from the bloody aggression at about 10,000.

The Saudi military aggression was launched to restore power to Hadi, who seeks to forcefully return to power.

A Yemeni delegation recently left the Omani capital, Muscat, for Kuwait, where the Yemeni peace talks are held since April 21.

Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has said any solution to the conflict in the country must guarantee the end of the Saudi aggression and its siege of Yemen.

Abdulsalam, meanwhile, said whenever Saudi Arabia ceases the military attacks, the Yemeni army and allied popular fighters would also halt their attacks on the common border with Saudi Arabia.

The spokesman also said Hadi could not be part of a political solution to Yemen’s crisis as he is in favor of continued war.

Abdulsalam reiterated the importance of a political solution to the Yemeni conflict.

MG