...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
forces began in the Swedish town of Rimbo on Thursday, in a bid to end almost four years of war in Yemen.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom and United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
Special Envoy for Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...Martin Griffiths welcomed the two delegations for talks, the first since 2016.
Griffiths announced that the parties had agreed to sign an agreement "on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained and individuals places under house arrest."
"This is a huge tribute to those here present," he added.
"It is now up to you, the Yemeni parties, to truly engage constructively and in good faith with Martin and this UN-led process. And you are in charge of your own future," Wallstrom told the parties.
"It can be solved," Griffiths said about the war. "It is resolvable, there is a way that we can resolve the conflict in the context of Security Council resolution, in the context of equity and justice and the aspirations of the Yemeni people."
"Stopping the war is essential, but it is not a condition precedent to discussing how to resolve the conflict," Griffiths continued. "We will continue to talk together about the prospect for a peaceful solution frankly irrespective of what happens on the battleground."