Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Saeed said peace talks with the Houthi rebels require a 'clear path'. EPA
Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Saeed said peace talks with the Houthi rebels require a 'clear path'. EPA
Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Saeed said peace talks with the Houthi rebels require a 'clear path'. EPA
Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Saeed said peace talks with the Houthi rebels require a 'clear path'. EPA

Yemen government sets conditions for talks with Houthi rebels


Mina Aldroubi
  • English
  • Arabic

Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Saeed said on Monday that successful peace talks with the Houthi rebels require a clear “path and intention”.

The country has been mired in a deadly conflict since the rebels drove the government out of the capital Sanaa in 2014.

“We support efforts towards a peace plan but the Houthis have no intention of doing so,” Mr Saeed told Sky News Arabia.

"We are working on ways to not complicate the lives of the Yemeni people."

For talks to occur there must be a “clear path and intention for discussion", he said.

Mr Saeed referred to the bombardment of Aden airport last month as he and his Cabinet arrived in the southern city from Riyadh. At least 30 people were killed and dozens injured.

The Iran-backed rebels denied carrying out the attack, but Mr Saeed said the international community knew they were responsible.

“It was planned by Iran,” he said. “The attack is criminal and was aimed at ending the government.”

He said security in Aden, the current seat of government, was stable despite the danger to officials.

Mr Saeed's government also announced on Sunday that it had appointed Ernst & Young to audit its central bank accounts, in response to accusations by UN officials that it laundered money.

The audit will include internal supervision and control, as well as a review of spending, Mr Saeed’s office said.

He said his government was determined to fight corruption “and we are working continuously to eradicate it".

"We are working within the framework of a consensual government, and the priority now is to reach peace," he said.

UN monitors said in a report that $2 billion had been deposited the Central Bank of Yemen in January 2018, under a development and reconstruction programme.

The money was to support Yemen’s purchases of commodities such as rice, sugar, milk and flour, to strengthen food security and stabilise domestic prices.

The government hopes to clear up any allegations through the audit.

The monitors also accused the Houthis of using at least $1.8bn of state revenue in 2019 to fund its war effort.

The news of the audit comes as the UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, held talks on Yemen with Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif in Tehran.

The visit comes as part of Mr Griffiths efforts to support a negotiated political solution to the conflict.

His immediate priority is to support agreement between the warring parties on a ceasefire, urgent humanitarian measures and a resumption of the political process.

  • Girls wait to get school bags provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
    Girls wait to get school bags provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
  • A girl reacts as she waits to get a school bag provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
    A girl reacts as she waits to get a school bag provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
  • Girls get school bags provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
    Girls get school bags provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
  • Girls line up to get school bags provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
    Girls line up to get school bags provided by a local aid group, Mona Relief Yemen, at a public school in Sana'a, Yemen. Mona Relief Yemen has distributed school bags to encourage girls to keep attending classes as the number of out-of-school children is estimated more than two million, compared to 1.6 million before the ongoing war escalated in Yemen in 2015. EPA
  • Children sit on the ground by a cave where a Yemeni family has sought refuge due to poverty and lack of housing, west of the suburbs of Yemen's third-city of Taez. AFP
    Children sit on the ground by a cave where a Yemeni family has sought refuge due to poverty and lack of housing, west of the suburbs of Yemen's third-city of Taez. AFP
  • Medical staff measure the height of the malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad, at a medical center in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
    Medical staff measure the height of the malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad, at a medical center in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
  • A woman carries a young infant suffering from severe malnutrition since birth in Yemen's northern Hajjah province. AFP
    A woman carries a young infant suffering from severe malnutrition since birth in Yemen's northern Hajjah province. AFP
  • Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad sits with his mother and brothers and sisters inside their hut in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
    Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad sits with his mother and brothers and sisters inside their hut in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
  • Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad lies on a bed at his family's hut in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
    Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad lies on a bed at his family's hut in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
  • Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad rides on the back of a donkey outside his family's hut in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
    Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad rides on the back of a donkey outside his family's hut in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
  • Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad, lies on a bed at his house in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
    Malnourished boy Hassan Merzam Muhammad, lies on a bed at his house in Abs district of Hajjah province, Yemen. REUTERS
  • A newborn baby lies under observation in an incubator in a ward for malnutritioned newborns at a treatment center Yemen's third largest city of Taez. AFP
    A newborn baby lies under observation in an incubator in a ward for malnutritioned newborns at a treatment center Yemen's third largest city of Taez. AFP