The Houthi rebel group has rejected offer of Yemen government to re-open Sanaa international airport citing it is not following international standards and seeks inspection of planes at airports of Aden or Sayun, which are under the control of Saudi Arabia-UAE coalition at war.
The peace talks being brokered by United Nations are being held in Swedish town of Rimbo. It started on Thursday and to last until December 13. Other major issues to be discussed in the meeting are negotiations of ceasefire and large-scale prisoner swaps.
Sanaa international airport is under the control of Houthi rebels since 2004 and it is mainly being used to bomb the alliance. The runway and terminal building have suffered severe damage in past in the war-torn country. It has been bombed several times.
Yemen’s minister of culture Marwan Dammaj said it is necessary to re-open the Sanaa airport to end people’s suffering regarding transportation.
He is a member of the government delegation and added further that “it should be a domestic airport from where Yemenis can go to Aden and then leave to international destinations.”
War in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people. The coalition intervened in 2015 to restore a government ousted by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
This is the first peace talks between Yemen government and Houthi rebel group in past two years.
The war in Yemen is widely being seen as a proxy conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Sanaa and other most populated areas are under the control of Houthi group while the ousted government is based in the southern city of Aden and despite the aid of Arab states it is struggling to advance.
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