Al Houthis call for truce under pressure

MILITIA FEARS GROWING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR COALITION

Rebels also seem to be concerned by growing international support for Saudi-led coalition

In the war, which has lasted for more than three years, Al Houthis have tried repeatedly to target international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

An Al Houthi announcement yesterday of a two-week pause in Red Sea operations is an indication that the militia is under increasing pressure from the Saudi-led Arab coalition offensive against it.

“The Al Houthis are certainly under pressure [as a result of the coalition offensive], but it is unclear the extent to which this is a sincere gesture or a gambit to buy time and calm fears regarding the threat to shipping in the Red Sea,” Graham Griffiths, a senior analyst at Control Risks, a specialist risk consultancy, told Gulf News.

In a post on Twitter, Mohammad Ali Al Houthi, head of the group’s “Supreme Revolutionary Commission”, reiterated calls for a “political solution” to the conflict. “Our initiative would include instructions to halt all military and naval operations for a specified, renewable period,” he said. Al Houthis’ social media accounts said the suspension would last two weeks.

The government has yet to issue a formal response, but has previously said it would not negotiate with the militia until the latter surrendered the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeida.

Al Houthis have rejected the notion of a unilateral withdrawal, but observers believe the militants have become increasingly concerned over growing international support for the coalition.

Last month, UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths proposed a plan by which Al Houthis would pull out of Hodeida, after which Yemeni police and UN observers would fill the vacuum.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis met with Oman’s Foreign Minister Yousuf Bin Alawi to discuss Yemen on July 27, and Griffiths met with Al Houthis’ political leadership in Sana’a over the weekend.

In the course of the war, which has lasted for more than three years, Al Houthis have tried repeatedly to target international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

On July 26, after Al Houthi attacks against Saudi tankers, Riyadh suspended oil shipments through Bab Al Mandeb, a key waterway.

The move by the kingdom could have encouraged Western countries to commit more support to coalition and Yemeni government aims, especially at a time when the coalition is steadily eroding Al Houthi military strength.

Upper hand in talks

Another reason for the ceasefire offer could be to engage in talks while Al Houthis still hold strategically important territory.

The coalition entered Yemen’s civil war in early 2015 just months after an Al Houthi coup ousted Yemen’s internationally-recognised government in Sana’a. Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has since ruled Yemen between Riyadh and Aden, where the legitimate government set up its temporary base.

Since 2015, military operations against Al Houthis have led to Yemen forces regaining large swathes of the country. However, main population centres remain under Al Houthi control.

The coalition accuses Iran of smuggling weapons into Al Houthi hands via the Red Sea port city of Hodeida — in defiance of UN resolutions.

The offensive aims to liberate Hodeida in order to deprive the militants of their main source of weapons and aid.