Yemen war exposes 'Saudi dictatorship at militaristic level'

Press TV has conducted an interview with Anthony Hall, a professor of globalization at the Lethbridge University from Alberta, Canada, about the violation of a UN-brokered ceasefire in Yemen.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Now as you can probably see and the people at the bottom of their screens watching Press TV, the ceasefire just a couple of hours into the truce has been violated by the Saudi Arabian air force, they have pounded Ta’izz Province. Now, what does this tell you about the guarantees that this time around these talks and negotiations will really bear fruit?

Hall: Well, from what I’ve seen their accusations going back and forth that both sides may have violated the ceasefire. There clearly is in the long-run a need for a political settlement here. This isn’t going to be decided ultimately militarily and it does seem that Saudi Arabia may be overextended and is wanting to cut its losses. There has been a supposed advancement into Ta’izz. Hadi’s people, the Saudi-backed alliance, are in control of Ta’izz that seems to be a source of conflict, where the ceasefire is not holding. I think we will see some genuine effort at peace in the talks in Kuwait.

Press TV: Speaking of genuine efforts for reaching peace and earlier you did mention political settlement. Is it not so that in order to reach those two, that is peace and settlement politically, justice needs to be served prior and that requires based on what the human rights organizations have been mentioning in criticism of the Saudi Arabian behavior toward the Yemeni people, there needs to be a prosecution of Saudi war crimes. How do you see that coming?

Hall: Well that point is legitimate to raise. There is an enormous humanitarian crisis within Yemen, the Yemeni people are suffering. The Houthi resistance and the Houthi coming to power in Sana’a, the capital, this is an indigenous resistance facing a foreign-backed stance; 20 million people needing humanitarian aid, millions and millions of people internally displaced. There is all kinds of crimes against humanity taking place in this debacle. And Yemen of course, the geography of Yemen, this needs a political settlement, I reiterate.

Press TV: Do you think there isn’t a sense or an element of disproportionality when it comes to the military campaign being waged by the Saudis?

Hall: Well, the Saudis have become this deranged platform for all kinds of proxy forces for Daesh, for al-Nusra. Saudi Arabia itself has become a kind of grotesque parody of itself, a kind of a dictatorship on a militaristic level performing many dastardly deeds throughout the Middle East. What is Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia needs to be deeply reformed and remade from within.

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