...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...talks in Sweden questioned the feasibility of a proposal submitted by the UN, which called for the formation of a "joint entity" to the administer the city of Hodeidah after the withdrawal of armed Houthi
...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...
militias and military forces from the city.
"The proposal will create legal and institutional problems and will not be enforceable, but will create additional difficulties on this authority’s credibility," said Marwan Dammaj, Yemen’s minister of culture and member of the legitimate government’s delegation.
Dammaj added that the government is committed to the withdrawal of Houthi militias from the city, and proposes to re-position the armed forces in the city’s camps, and for security entities under the ministry of interior to manage the security of the city.
Negotiations are still ongoing in Rimbo, Sweden, on all outstanding issues, including Hodeidah, Taiz, Sanaa Airport, the economic situation and the negotiating framework.
The consultations continue to be surrounded by a belt of international diplomatic pressure as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to join the delegations in Sweden this evening to push parties to achieve concrete results in the last remaining hours on Thursday.
"It is important that the two sides agree on points that both can implement and make no promises that are difficult for them to meet," a Western diplomat told Al Arabiya English.
"The two sides must abide by the rules of mutual respect and try to avoid rhetoric of escalation and threats," the diplomat, an ambassador involved in the negotiations in Sweden, said.