Yemen’s warring sides expected to discuss Taez siege in Amman

Uncertainty remains over participation of Houthi rebels in UN-led talks this week

Residents in Yemen's rebel-besieged third city of Taez live among the ruins of years of fighting. AFP

Yemen’s warring sides are expected to meet in Jordan on Wednesday to discuss an end to the siege of the central city of Taez, a move that could open another channel of dialogue after an agreement was made to operate flights between Sanaa and Cairo.

However, it is still uncertain whether the Houthi rebels will attend the UN-led meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The meeting is of vital importance as it will determine whether the UN-brokered truce, set to end in early June, will be extended.

It began on April 2, at the start of Ramadan, and has largely held despite allegations of Houthi violations.

“The Yemeni government accepted the truce despite the Houthi violations and their unwillingness to re-open roads leading to Taez to allow humanitarian goods to enter. However, there are representatives of both sides that will discuss Taez this week,” Majed Fadhil, Yemen’s deputy human rights minister, told The National.

“The government will do whatever it takes to ensure that peace will prevail in Yemen and we have not violated the truce since it began,” Mr Fadhil said.

Lifting the siege and opening roads to allow aid to enter will be top of the representative's agenda during the talks, he said.

Part of the agreement is lifting the Houthi siege on Taez. The other element is the reopening of the Houthi-held airport in Sanaa to commercial flights.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels control the governorate's economy and are keeping local civilians boxed in. Humanitarian agencies said that locals who need urgent medical assistance often die on their way to Aden or Sanaa because of roadblocks.

“Taez is the most important element for us right now. We need to ensure that all blockages have been lifted before we can extend the ceasefire,” Hamzah Al Kamaly, Yemen's deputy minister of youth, told The National.

“All eyes are on the Taez meeting,” he said.

Commercial flights departing the Houthi-held Sanaa airport are also of utmost importance to ensure the truce will continue. The first flight departed for Amman last Monday and the second is scheduled to land in Cairo in the coming days.

Yemen's Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak said that an agreement has been made with Egypt to allow the flight to land in the capital.

“We express our deep thanks to the Egyptian government for responding to the request of the Yemeni government and for agreeing to operate direct flights between Sanaa and Cairo according to the ceasefire deal,” Mr Mubarak said on Twitter on Tuesday.

“The competent authorities in the two countries will work in the coming days to coordinate and complete the technical procedures for operating the flights,” he said.