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April 25th, 2016 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Talks about a political settlement to the war in Yemen have kicked off in Kuwait. The talks were started after days of delay. The negotiating parties will have to overcome major hurdles before an agreement about an agenda, let alone about a peaceful settlement may be reached.
Indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and medical facilities in Yemen are the order of the day. (archives)
The opening of the talks was marked by disputes about an agenda for continued talks and mutual accusations about violations of the ceasefire that came into effect on April 10. Instead of agreeing on an agenda, the negotiating parties, representing the Saudi Arabia backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Shi’ite Houthi militia along with forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, bickered about how the talks should continue.
Local media and humanitarian organizations reported numerous serious ceasefire violations since the truce the came into effect on April 10. All of the belligerent parties reportedly continue to use heavy weaponry, reinforcing positions and advancing under the cover of the “ceasefire”.
One day into the talks in Kuwait the negotiating parties it was reported that the negotiating parties are so much at loggerheads that it is questionable whether or not the talks will continue and whether or not any progress can be made.
Friday the delegations disagreed about the agenda they had previously agreed. The agenda was established in March under the auspices of the United Nations. It was repeated and read out on Thursday during the opening ceremony by UN Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. Non of the belligerent parties objected then.
The agenda calls on the Houthi to cede power to the internationally recognized government, disarm and withdraw from cities to establish permanent peace and resume the political process. The UN Envoy stressed that these demands are based on the UN Security Council resolution 2216 on Yemen conflict, which was issued to restore the power to Hadi’s government.
Houthis’ and Saleh’s delegates, however, expressed reservations and call for the formation of a new national power-sharing government before implementing those points. Their respective delegates told Ould Cheikh Ahmed that they didn’t come to Kuwait “to surrender their arms to their adversaries,” demanding to “prioritize political steps” before implementing “other clauses.”
This move, in return, was rejected by the delegates who are representing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who reportedly rejects any changes to the agenda for the talks in Kuwait. The UN Envoy, however, said during a press conference in Kuwait that Friday’s meeting focused on the cease-fire file and there is a positive response from the warring parties. “The discussions held today were promising and constructive and concluded amid positive atmosphere,” he added. “We are closer to peace than ever.”
Bab Al-Mandeb Strait
The talks were also expected to end the Saudi Arabia led military intervention in Yemen. Largely omitted in some media, and exaggerated in others, there is also a presence of Iranian “military advisers” and special forces in Yemen, siding with the Houthi. The conflict began as a civil war but has since then evolved into a complex war theater that pits Saudi Arabia against Iran while Egypt is being caught in the Middle and in a quagmire.
Egypt perceives the control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait by any power hostile to Egypt as a threat to Egypt’s national security. The narrow waterway provided access to the southern end of the Suez Canal. Saudi Arabia clearly wants to limit Iranian influence at its border to Yemen while it is also playing a complex chess game with regard to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS / ISIL / Daesh) in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia and the USA used both to subvert Syria and Iraq, and in part, although to a lesser extend Yemen. The so-called civil war has thus far cost at least 6,400 civilian lives and caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the poorest country in the Middle East. Ironically, Yemen border two of the world’s most important waterways; the Persian / Arab Guld and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and by implication, the Suez Canal. It has been a geopolitical anchor point ever since the so-called cold war.
CH/L – nsnbc 24.04.2016
Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/04/24/yemen-peace-talks-kick-off-in-kuwait/
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