RIYADH // Yemen’s government and the United Nations called for an extension to the country’s humanitarian truce ending on Sunday night as Yemeni politicians and tribal leaders met in the Saudi capital to seek a formula for a lasting peace.
“We need the ceasefire to continue for long, not just for a few days, but it depends on the operation on the ground,” said vice president Khaled Bahah.
“There is an effort for an extension, but it depends on how it is on the ground. ”
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition seeking to restore the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have largely observed a ceasefire since Tuesday that was meant to allow for delivery of aid to millions of civilians caught up in the conflict.
Sporadic clashes have continued, however, with at least 15 killed overnight in the cities of Taez and Dhalea, residents said on Sunday.
Relief groups have said five days was not enough to allow sufficient supplies to reach the country of 25 million.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, opened the meeting in Riyadh by calling on all parties to ensure that the shaky ceasefire leads to a lasting truce.
“I call on all parties to refrain from any action that disturbs the peace of airports, main areas and the infrastructure of transport,” he said, delivering a speech on behalf of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
“There is no solution to this crisis but with a comprehensive dialogue that will not exclude anyone,” he said.
The Mauritanian diplomat also urged all parties in Yemen to take part in a future conference “without any preconditions”.
The Houthi rebels, who have seized large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, want talks held in Yemen and refused to attend the three-day meeting in Saudi Arabia’s capital, which organisers said drew about 400 delegates.
Mr Bahah said that despite their absence on Sunday, he expected the Houthis would attend future talks.
“They have chosen to be out of this conference but, at the end, they will be coming,” he said.
Mr Hadi, in a rare public address since the war drove him into exile, repeated accusations that the rebels had committed a “coup” and abuses against the population.
“We are trying to regain our nation” from militias backed by “external” forces, he said in a reference to Iran, which has denied arming the rebels.
“By God’s will, victory will be near,” vowed Mr Hadi, who convened the conference held in conjunction with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
“We are coming back to Aden and Sanaa ... We are coming back to build a new, united federal Yemen.”
Mr Hadi urged a return to the political road map in Yemen through which former president Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down after more than three decades in power following a 2011 Arab Spring-inspired uprising. Mr Saleh’s removal and the road map was backed and overseen by the GCC.
The Houthis are allied with fighters loyal to Mr Saleh, whose General People’s Congress party “has many of its leaders taking part” in the conference, said Abdulaziz Al Jaber, head of the organising committee.
Mr Saleh himself is under US and UN sanctions and the conference will not deal with him, Mr Al Jaber said on Saturday.
Among the meeting’s goals is working towards a constitution which would be presented to the Yemeni people, “and to hold a referendum to put the results of the dialogue into practice”, he said.
Transport minister Bader Ba Salama said that among the participants is the Southern Movement, an umbrella group from the former South Yemen which was independent until 1990.
Yemen’s conflict has killed more than 1,400 people — many of them civilians — since March 19, according to the UN.
The country has endured shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity, and humanitarian organisations have been scrambling to distribute aid before the end of the truce.
On Sunday, a vessel with more than 30,000 food parcels sent by the UAE docked at Al Buraiqa port, near the oil refinery in the southern city of Aden, the southern stronghold of Mr Hadi which has been devastated by heavy fighting.
Shipping sources said it was the first consignment of aid to reach the city.
The World Health Organisation said on Friday that more than 20 tonnes of medical supplies had been sent from Dubai to Djibouti for delivery to Yemen.
Also on Friday, seven ships with fuel, wheat and food had docked in Hodeida and in Al Mukalla, a shipping source in Yemen said.
The UN agency for children said it had distributed supplies “which can provide primary health care to over 24,000 people and treat 3,500 severely malnourished children.”
* Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press
