Saudi Arabia proposes ‘five-day ceasefire’ in Yemen

Middle East, News, US May 7, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Saudi Arabia proposed a five-day ceasefire Thursday in Yemen so that humanitarian aid can be distributed.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the decision at a press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Riyadh on Thursday. Kerry and Adel al-Jubeir, said efforts were underway to forge a five-day cease-fire in Yemen to send in humanitarian aid..

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saudi Arabia and Yemeni rebels are discussing when to start the ceasefire.

The Saudi foreign minister said any truce would depend on the rebels’ co-operation.

Saudi Arabia insists the Houthis must lay down their arms for the humanitarian ceasefire to be implemented. The rebels have not yet responded to the appeal.

The Saudi official, however, did not comment on the exact date of the start of the “humanitarian pause.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Saudi counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir (Photo: AFP)

Kerry, for his part, welcomed the decision “to establish a full, five-day renewable ceasefire and humanitarian pause,” adding that the truce would mean “no bombing, no shooting” and no repositioning of armed forces on both sides.

The US official stated that the details of the plan are not yet clear and the involved sides will discuss the terms of the truce in the French capital city of Paris on Friday, stressing, however, that the ceasefire would not go into effect for several days.

A Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen six weeks ago. According to UN, at least 1,400 people have been killed.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Assistance, said at least 6,000 people had been injured in the fighting, many of them civilians in Aden.

“People in Aden have endured extreme hardship as a result of conflict over the last six weeks and must be able to move to safer areas to seek medical and other assistance,” Mr Laerke said.

Houthi militias are increasingly blamed for some attacks, including one this week where shells struck boats trying to flee the southern Yemeni city of Aden, killing more than 50 people, Alyemany said.

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, has accused Saudi Arabia of dropping U.S.-supplied cluster bombs in the fight. They can lie dormant and detonate when people stumble upon one by chance.

An international treaty against cluster bombs has been adopted by 116 countries, but the United States, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are not among them.

FNR/MKA/BBC/CNN/SS