SANA’A (Middle East Eye) – A truce between Yemen’s warring parties that was extended earlier this month marks the first “tangible shift” in the conflict since it started, the United Nations special envoy has said, calling on Yemenis to build on an unanticipated moment of opportunity.
The UN-brokered truce between the Yemeni government in Sana’a and the Saudi-backed mercenaries and militants, which went into effect in April, was renewed for another two months on 2 June.
“The truce is holding and this is to the surprise of many analysts who are out here…and I have to say that I’m also surprised at the commitment that the parties have shown, despite all the challenges,” Hans Grundberg said at the Yemen International Forum in Stockholm, organized by the Sana’a Centre for Strategic Studies and the Folke Bernadotte Academy.
“We know that it is fragile, yes, it’s far from perfect, but it is holding.”
Grundberg said that the warring parties have been holding direct UN-backed meetings in the Jordanian capital of Amman for the first time in a year and called on Yemenis to “give peace a serious chance”.
Under the ceasefire, commercial flights have resumed from Sana’a airport to Amman and Cairo, while oil tankers have also been able to dock in the port of Hudaydah, Yemen’s lifeline.
Grundberg pointed out that some of the participants in the conference, which has brought together political actors, experts and representatives of civil society organizations, have travelled to Stockholm on one of the first commercial flights from the capital Sana’a in six years.
The truce “has delivered some humanitarian respite to the population that is unprecedented in terms of the history of the conflict, and from that point of view, it also provides us with scope and breathing space for engaging on a political settlement,” Grundberg was quoted as saying by AFP on the sidelines of the forum.
“The truce provides us with steps that normalize life in certain small areas for the Yemeni population, and that I think is both important, but also symbolic,” he said.
“The obvious wish that I have is that this normalization, not only on the airport but on all other issues that we’re engaging on, continues”.
Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the U.S. and other Western states.