Saudis Push Back Yemen Cease-Fire

By teleSUR

15 December 15

The news comes as Riyadh unites 34 countries in a Sunni-led coalition to fight international “terrorism.”

cease-fire to end the nine-month conflict in Yemen was pushed back by 12 hours after two senior Saudi-allied military officers were killed near Taiz, Monday.

Emirati officer Sultan al-Ketbi and Saudi Colonel Abdullah al-Sahyan were both killed in a rocket attack, Houthi-controlled media reports. Saudi and Emirati officials have confirmed the deaths.

The official Saudi news agency reports that the cease-fire will now be initiated at noon local time (0900 GMT). The cease-fire was originally scheduled to be implemented at midnight Monday (2100 GMT).

Delegates from the opposing sides are due to participate in a new round of United Nations peacetalks Tuesday, with Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi leading the Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s delegation. The cease-fire is scheduled to last for a week to coincide with the peacetalks.

The Houthi rebels have been fighting forces loyal to Hadi for control of the country since March 19, 2015. Hadi was forced to flee on March 25 after Houthi forces took control of the capital.

Saudi Arabia and 10 of its regional allies followed the Houthi uprising by launching airstrikes and limited ground operations against the Houthis in a bid to restore Hadi and his government to power. Hadi returned to the Yemeni capital of Aden in September, after Saudi-backed forces loyal to his leadership regained control of the city.

The conflict has so far killed more than 6,000 people. The U.N. agency for children, UNICEF, has said that nearly half of those killed in the war so far have been civilians, and that 637 of them have been children.

Two previous cease-fire attempts, in May and July, were followed by accusations of breaches by both sides. Earlier, U.N. talks in June ended with no agreement.

The latest peacetalks could be strained by the announcement of a 34 country international coalition spearheaded by Saudi Arabia that has been organized to fight “terrorism.” Some of the states have witnessed serious infighting between Sunnis and Shias, with the Saudis sometimes providing support to governments and groups that crackdown on minority Shia populations.

Unsurprisingly, Iran and Syria have not joined the coalition.