Houthi Leader Blames Riyadh, Allies, for Deadlock in Peace Talks

Addressing his supporters via a televised speech broadcast live on Thursday evening, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi blamed the Saudi side for a stalemate in peace talks and a political resolution of the crisis in Yemen.

“The enemies have blocked all efforts to restore peace while the Sana’a negotiators had offered concessions,” he said.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, launched a brutal war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which plays a significant role in aiding the Yemeni army in defending the impoverished country against the invading coalition.

Houthi further said the Yemenis would never surrender as their faith, dignity, and identity would not allow them to.

“Remaining silent and giving in to the enemies’ demands amounts to shirking our responsibility at a time when they are trying to occupy our country,” he said.

The enemies are blatantly invading Yemen and that needs to be responded to, he said, adding that it is a humiliation and treason if the Yemenis do nothing in reaction to the aggression.

However, he said, the Yemeni nation would welcome a peace that ends the ongoing aggression and the occupation of Yemen.

A fresh round of UN-sponsored peace talks was supposed to be held on September 6 in Geneva, Switzerland, but the Houthi Ansarullah failed to attend the talks after Saudi Arabia refused to allow a delegation of the popular movement to fly to the Swiss city.

The former Yemeni government resigned in 2015 as the country was experiencing political turmoil. Shortly afterwards, Hadi fled to Riyadh, where he encouraged the Saudis to wage a war on Yemen in a bid to regain power.

The Houthi movement has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective administration since the onset of the war, which has so far killed some 15,000 people.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.