Yemen Peace Talks Deadlocked
by Stephen Lendman
On June 15, talks began - an inauspicious process with opposing sides not meeting face-to-face. Instead, UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, continues shuttle diplomacy between attending delegations with no signs of progress so far.
He was less than candid claiming "an important start towards the return to a political process."
So was UN spokesman Farhan Haq in New York saying "discussions will hopefully foster mechanisms that create confidence, increase the chances of implementation of the different Security Council resolutions and ensure that compromise on one side will not be abused by the other."
Talks going nowhere were extended until Saturday to try breaking an intractable deadlock. It's unlikely. Riyadh and Yemeni exiled US-installed puppet Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi demand Ansarullah Houthis accept one-sided Security Council Resolution 2216 terms.
They're totally unacceptable - calling for unconditional Houthi surrender, withdrawing from areas held, disarming, abandoning their liberating struggle, recognizing Washington's puppet regime, and refraining from nonexistent provocations against neighboring states.
It mandated other unacceptable terms - including a one-sided arms embargo on Houthis alone.
Their delegation refuses to negotiate with Hadi representatives - claiming he has no legitimacy whatever. He fled to Riyadh after Houthis captured Sanaa earlier this year.
During talks, Saudi-led terror bombing continues with no letup - along with using imported takfiri terrorists. On Wednesday, they attacked three Sanaa mosques and Houthi political headquarters - killing and wounding dozens.
US/Saudi-enlisted Islamic State terrorists claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they detonated four car bombs "near the centers of Houthi apostasy" - at the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
Ansarullah Houthi Geneva delegation member Ali al-Emad believes the bombings are part of a Saudi strategy to sabotage talks. "We will certainly adopt necessary measures to deal with Riyadh's strategy," he said.
Fars News reports senior Saudi delegation member Abd al-Wahhab al-Humayqani is wanted by Interpol for supporting Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorists.
In December 2013, the US Treasury Department called him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) - for recruiting AQAP terrorists and providing financial and other support.
He was involved with an earlier plot to assassinate Yemeni officials. Yemeni Popular Congress Party Geneva delegate Shoja Adel asked why he was allowed to attend peace talks, and why hasn't he been arrested?
Separately, Fars News reported Yemeni official Mehdi Nasser al-Bashi saying:
"Ansarullah fighters backed by the Yemeni army hit Amir Khalid airbase in Khamees al-Mushait region in Southern Saudi Arabia with a scud missile and several Najm al-Saqeb (Striking Star) missiles last week, killing over 20 senior Israeli officers and 63 Saudi military men and capturing 35 others."
He claimed Israelis were Mossad agents "working on a plan to attack some regions of Yemen with prohibited Israeli-made weapons." Saudi Air Force commander General Muhammad bin Ahmed al-Shaalan was killed in the attack. Riyadh claimed he died of a heart attack.
Yemen peace talks continue into their fourth day - accompanied by relentless Saudi terror-bombing, ongoing for nearly three months.
Washington and Riyadh want war, not peace. Expect no conflict resolution in Geneva.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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