Yemen: warring sides in Amman to discuss end to Taez blockade

UN urges officials to extend vital nationwide ceasefire

UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg at Sanaa airport after talks with Houthi leaders last month. EPA

Yemen’s warring sides held talks in Jordan for a second day on Thursday in an attempt to end the Houthi blockade on the city of Taez, as the UN called to extend a ceasefire deal.

The meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman, is of vital importance because it will determine whether the UN-brokered truce, which will end early in June, will be extended. The truce began on April 2, at the start of Ramadan, and has largely held despite allegations of Houthi breaches.

"We have seen the tangible benefits the truce has delivered so far for the daily lives of Yemenis," UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in a statement late on Wednesday.

"The parties need to renew the truce to extend and consolidate these benefits to the people of Yemen, who have suffered over seven years of war," he said.

Officials close to the talks told The National they are "hopeful for a positive outcome" but that it is too early to draw any conclusions.

At the opening of the talks on Wednesday, Mr Grundberg said the two sides are presented with a chance to establish peace.

"The truce has presented a window of opportunity to break with the violence and suffering of the past and move towards a peaceful future in Yemen. The parties need to seize this opportunity," he said.

Mr Grundberg urged the two sides to exercise "maximum restraint".

Part of the truce agreement is lifting the Houthi siege on Taez.

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 blockades have been lifted before we can extend the ceasefire," Hamzah Al Kamaly, Yemen's deputy minister of youth, told The National this week.

The other element of the truce is the reopening of the Houthi-held airport in Sanaa to commercial flights.

The UN said that more than 1,000 passengers have flown between Sanaa and Amman after the first commercial flight took off on April 15.

Preparations are now under way to start flights from Sanaa to Cairo.

“This will allow more Yemenis to travel abroad to access medical care, educational and trade opportunities, and to visit family,” a UN official said.