‘Yemen peace talks hit dead end’

Doubts cast on UN envoy’s role

“THROUGH the gross recklessness in dealing with the blood of Yemenis and their huge sacrifice that was prolonged during the great revolution, we found how the Yemeni-Yemeni peace talks held recently in Kuwait failed drastically and reached such a dreadful end,” columnist Zayed AlZaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“In general, the two parties in the negotiations could be held accountable for such a dreadful fiasco. The delegation of Al-Houthi Movement and deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh, in addition to United Nations envoy on the Yemeni crisis Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed must bear a larger part of the responsibility for the said failure.

“As a matter of fact, the peace talks between the Yemeni parties, which were held here and there under the patronage of the United Nations, lasted for more than a year. During these peace talks, the legitimate government exerted a lot of efforts, but the resilience shown by the legitimate delegation has been met with obstinacy, tenacity and recklessness of the Houthi Movement.

“In the meantime, the United Nations envoy has been lenient towards the Houthis and their accomplice in the military coup — deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh — as they move against the legitimate Yemeni government.

“Speaking of the Yemeni-Yemeni peace talks held recently in Yemen for more than two months, one may say these talks drastically failed as there have been no signs of solutions being presented. The United Nations envoy and all those involved in the military coup could be held accountable for the failure.

“The Yemeni cause is passing through a perilous stage now more than ever. We are currently witnessing the brutal practices of the Houthis and the supporters of their ally — Ali Abdullah Saleh, as well as their documented crimes against the Yemeni people and their gross violation of international conventions and charters.

“Unfortunately, this occurred in full of view of the United Nations envoy, such that there have been attempts to legitimize the military coup against the legitimate government. The procedure followed by the United Nations envoy in dealing with the Yemeni crisis made him appear like the representative of the supporters of the military coup, not the UN. This happened although his duty entails he should play a neutral role in dealing with the crisis and then unveil the facts to the entire world. Ultimately, he should admit that the Houthis and their ally Saleh could be held accountable for the failure of the Yemeni-Yemeni peace talks held recently in the State of Kuwait.

“Apart from the above, the United Nations envoy and UN Security Council must hasten towards exposing the international parties that are also responsible for the failure of the peace talks.

“Furthermore, the lenient, lest to say, suspicious attitude of the United Nations envoy surfaced during his recent press conference in the State of Kuwait where he officially halted the negotiations. Nevertheless, he refused to condemn those behind the failure — the parties involved in the military coup against the legitimate government of Yemen. This per se reflects his attempts to ‘liquidate’ the Yemeni cause.

“The envoy also refused to condemn the practices of the Houthis and Saleh. These practices reached their peak recently with the formation of what they called ‘Presidential and Political Council’. The latter was formed during the Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations in the State of Kuwait where the Houthis and Saleh’s People Congress Party said the council consists of 10 members — five from Saleh’s party and five from the Houthi Movement. The council will manage the Yemeni affairs and its president will be from the Houthi Movement to be succeeded by one from Saleh’s party on rotation.

“In conclusion, one may wonder when the suspicious role of the United Nations and its envoy to Yemen will end.”

Also:

Al-Zaid

“The Iranian opposition conference held during the holy month of Ramadan in the French capital, Paris, revealed a lot of significant issues, so we would like to shed light on the same although we realized that everyone knows most of these issues,” columnist Dr Abdulmohsen Hamada wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“The conference revealed that Iran consists of many ethnic groups such as the Persians, Arabs, Baluchist, Kurds, Turks and so on. It also revealed that the Persians are currently dominating most State ministries and institutions even if they represent only 40 percent of the country’s population. This happened although most Persians are opposing the theocratic State and they prefer the establishment of a civil State in their country.

“However, the importance of the Paris conference rests in the fact that it was well-organized with more than 100,000 participants including prominent figures from the European Union, the United States of America, Arab World and some other countries. In addition, the international media covered the three-day event.

“The participants discussed the apartheid and ethnic persecution of non-Persians in Iran. Take for example, the Arabs living in Ahwaz province where the population is estimated at 10 million. These people claimed that before 1925, they were not part of the Iranian State as they were rather annexed to the latter. Therefore, they continue to suffer from racist persecution to such an extent that they were prohibited from giving Arab names to their newborn babies and the streets in their province.

“Most of the Iranian oil wealth is located in the Arab Ahwaz province, yet the people there are still suffering from poverty. This is true for certain components including the people of Baluchistan and Kurdistan provinces.

“Many Iranians are suffering from persecution as revealed by Marian Rajavi, leader of Mujahedeen Khalq Organization who presided over the Paris conference. Such being the case, why does Iran insist on intervening in the internal affairs of many countries in the region under the guise of defending the underdogs?”

“We read news about the so-called Islamic State claiming responsibility for the four terrorist operations executed in the past two weeks, the most recent of which was the murder of a French priest in a French church,” columnist Haila Hamad Al-Mekaimi wrote for Al-Nahar daily.

“These terrorist acts have the same objectives — to tarnish Islam, to intensify the suffering of Syrian refugees and to affirm that Muslims cannot co-exist with others and do something different.

“Undoubtedly, people are aware of the Western involvement in Syria. After the doors of ‘Arab winter’ were shut, the issue concerning Syria remained open due to conflict of interests in terms of oil, Israel’s security and the Kurdistan case. This led to proxy wars which continue to take its toll on Syrian people and various other gruesome repercussions.

“Therefore, we affirm that the scene of the stabbed French priest, which is a painful scenario, is just a series of previous mistakes that were made in the Middle East conflict and it is now time to put an end to such mistakes.”

“After 26 years of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on Aug 2, 1990, we must think deeply about the lessons to be learnt from the kind of unity and harmony witnessed among all segments of Kuwait during that difficult period,” Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“All Kuwaitis were determined to ensure the name of Kuwait remains forever during that turbulent period in history when people were united in defending that name. Everybody stood firm by the wise leadership to form a single front during that invasion and they eventually got what they wanted. This was achieved because they believed in their case and were resolute in getting their rights due to which they exerted strenuous efforts in that regard to the extent of convincing the whole world about their demand for justice.

“Today, we hope, as we stand on our dear strong land, that Kuwaitis will understand the greatness of the military and diplomatic sacrifices made by the heroes of the liberation war. They sacrificed a lot for this beautiful land and so we must also appreciate the blessing of Allah on us, especially the blessing of safety and tranquility.”

“It is not impossible to surround fuel stations in Kuwait with glass boards and make them fully air conditioned. In fact, owners of fuel stations and oil companies are mandated to do this by law,” Zaid Al-Jalawi wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“The decree of necessity can also be used since this issue has to do with human rights, considering the fact that the summer heat is killing or could lead to disabilities topped by blindness, which is the most dangerous for workers who do not have any way for demanding their rights quickly.

“Possibly like everybody else, I have witnessed that the current high temperatures combined with humidity is the highest ever experienced in the country, making August the most ‘hell-like’ compared to other months.

“How did oxygen run out in the air? I have seen workers drenched in sweat and not being able to breathe well. Many are empathic about their situation. The best thing is to start by enacting a law or draft bill based on this article or any other thing.”

“A blood lake is expanding in Syria and Iraq and our enemies have waded into it. The quantity of children, women, youth and men’s blood is increasing. It has expanded to become a sea of our blood, where we can take lessons from. Who caused it? We try to look for reasons only to find out that the culprits are the tyrants among our sons, the sectarians among the supposed owners of ‘jurisprudence’ project and the evil Western forces together with their ally Israel,” columnist Abdul Mohsen Juma wrote for Al Jarida daily.

“The important lesson is that those who gave them justification to do whatever they are doing to us are, without a doubt, the Islamists. Political Islam with its two sides — Sunni and Shia — is responsible for spilling the blood of Muslims as well as the conspiracies which have been penetrating, killing and dividing us.

“The Shia Political Islam is now part and parcel, as well as the biggest ally of the international roadmap that targets the region alongside Russia, America and of course Israel. For me, what piqued my interest is what their rival — the Sunni Political Islam — is doing with all their organizations to make it easier for our enemy.

“As usual, the political Islamists will come gun-blazing with accusations while the corpse of a child in Aleppo is being torn apart, a woman is being buried alive under the pile in Idlib and an old man is dying of hunger in a Damascus village. The same scenario is occurring in Iraq.

“When those who think radically asked them to stop this madness and reverse what they have done to the Muslim world, they raised their voices with accusations, holy war and Caliphate State. On the other hand, the facts on the ground speak volumes on how they have invited the world to destroy us.”

“It was just a matter of time for the government to launch an attack on the social rights of citizens,” columnist Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The government chose a suitable time to raise the price of fuel seeing that the Parliament is currently on break, while the political movements are totally absorbed with the upcoming election that has nothing to do with securing the social rights of citizens. The Government decided to increase the fuel price up to 83 percent; thus, a motorist will spend KD 7 to fill his tank instead of KD 4.

“Although the Ministry of Commerce tried to convince citizens that new fuel prices will not affect the prices other commodities and services, citizens have a previous experience in the prices of food and services shooting up after gasoline and diesel prices were increased.”

“Britain dissociated itself from the European Union and is now searching for a different economic system that has not been formed yet. There are many calls from within some European countries demanding to leave EU as it brought them nothing but crises and poverty,” Dr Salah Al-Ateeqi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“During mid-20th century, a stance was formed for adopting socialism which was followed in Russia and the Eastern Europe. Will that be a good choice? The answer is a big NO.

“During that time, Karl Marx published in one of his books his theory known as ‘Historical Materialism’. Based on this theory, he had formed an economic method known as ‘Scientific Socialism’. However, he died before he could explain details of rule after it was transferred into the hands of the labor class.

“Many people ask if Karl Marx deserves to be followed by a society and if his ideas have to be considered. My answer is definitely no.

“According to one of his closest comrades Friedrich Engels, Marx was arrogant and unpredictable and he used to face objections with sarcasm and contempt.

“Few years after the death of Marx, contradictions began to emerge among his successors who came to rule Russia after the Romanov dynasty was toppled. They failed to apply Marx’s theory and started patching it up. Russians ended up paying the price by suffering from horrible circumstances. Millions were killed and many were displaced and sought refuge in Siberia. The failure was due to the fact that humans are greedy and like to possess more by nature. A human being desires having a family and owning a house, a car and other such materialistic possessions. When these things are taken away from him, he simply becomes a machine.

“Karl Marx’s parents were Jewish who later converted to Christianity in order to ensure better standard of living within a Christian society and stability for their son’s future. Is there any link between this story and the attitude of Marx especially concerning his view of religions as a reflection of economic needs?

“I just wanted to shed some light on a model of loser regimes whose theories do not deserve to be adopted anywhere.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb