Pope Francis condemns Yemen plight, urges respect for ‘fragile’ truce

Pope Francis, the Head of the Roman Catholic Church, has in strongest terms ever condemned the Saudi-led coalition’s war on Yemen, urging the warring sides to respect a “fragile” peace deal, shortly before starting his historic visits to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“The cry of these children and their parents rise up to God,” the Pontiff told tens of thousands of people in Vatican City on Sunday, before traveling to the United Arab Emirates which is a part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen since 2015.

According to Press TV, he said “The people are exhausted by the long conflict and many children are hungry, but humanitarian aid isn’t accessible.”

He added “Let us pray strongly because they are children who are hungry, who are thirsty, they don’t have medicine and they are in danger of death.”

The Pope said that he was following the urgent humanitarian crisis in Yemen with great concern during the first-ever papal visits to the Arabian Peninsula. He also urged all sides to implement a fragile peace deal and help deliver food, water, and medicine to millions of hungry people.

Also on Sunday, the United Nations mission in Yemen warned warring sides that the Hudaydah truce is fragile.

Retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert, who also chairs Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) – a UN-appointed committee tasked with monitoring the Hudaydah ceasefire – made the comment during meetings with former government officials and Ansarullah forces aboard a ship anchored off the key port city.

He said the talks were cordial and constructive and urged both sides to observe the ceasefire. Cammaert said any violations would jeopardize the Stockholm Agreement and the Yemeni peace process. 

The talks were held on a ship because the representatives of Ansarullah refused to enter areas controlled by Saudi-led aggressor forces.

According to a UN statement, Cammaert boarded the vessel on Saturday and picked up representatives of the former regime at a rendezvous in the Red Sea before returning to Hudaydah to await Ansarullah envoys, who arrived later on Sunday.

The RCC was formed on the back of an agreement reached under the auspices of the UN in Sweden last December.

The breakthrough deal calls for a ceasefire in Hudaydah — which has been under a Saudi-led siege — the withdrawal of both Saudi-backed forces and the Yemeni defense units from the city, and the deployment of UN observers there.

ME