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Peace talks on Yemen going nowhere: Commentator

Sunday, 22 May 2016 4:20 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 22 May 2016 4:21 PM ]

Young armed Yemenis walk next to flooded water near a dam in Ma’rib province on April 22, 2016. (AFP photo)

Press TV has interviewed Naseer al-Omari, a writer and political commentator in New York, about Yemen’s Ansarullah movement saying it has attended peace talks in Kuwait to engage in a political dialog, not to give in to bullying.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you think the Ansarullah movement really refers to when they say they are not in the peace talks to be bullied. What do they mean by being bullied?

Omari: Well they are being asked the impossible which is to drop their weapons and in Yemen it is hard to drop your weapon when you do not know who is your enemy and your friend.

There was a time when Ali Abdullah Saleh himself attacked the Houthis, about six wars, if I am not mistaken, that were waged by Ali Abdullah Saleh against the Houthis. So this is a country that does not have a history of representation of minority groups, this is a country that has flourished with sectarianism, so to ask the Houthis to drop their weapons in this atmosphere is basically asking them to commit suicide.

Press TV: You mentioned the Saudi-led delegation has been asking the other party to drop their weapons. That is one of their demands. The other demand is to leave and give up the strongholds and the territorial gains that they have made. Now if they were to do that, then what do they have in hand to essentially talk and negotiate about, if they continue to have any peace talks that is?

Omari: Exactly and that is the point that we have a situation here where the Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh are being asked to accept the Hadi government and on the other hand the Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh are saying let’s agree on a national government other than the Hadi government but the negotiations have not gone anywhere for the last month although they had all kinds of committees working like the military committee, the aid committee and all of that but nothing is happening and the situation on the ground, the Yemeni people are hoping for peace because the humanitarian situation is deteriorating despite the fact that there is a truce going on.

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