Yemen's Main Parties Talk About Their Positions on Peace Efforts

Yesterday, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) reaffirmed their position on the comprehensive political process in Yemen. While the leader of the Houthi group waved the resumption of the war. This comes while the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) said from Munich that "the Houthis are not with the peace project in Yemen."

In a meeting in Aden, the STC's Foreign Affairs said: "Any consultations that do not deal with the current reality and the causes of the conflict will have no chances of success."

The STC stressed the establishment of "a special negotiating track for the Southern issue, in accordance with the commitments of the Riyadh Consultations under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council."

The statement added: "We reaffirm the vision adopted by the STC with regard to the comprehensive political process."

The STC warned from making "any concessions to the Houthi militia," noting that "any inconsistent solutions will create a new round of war."

The statement indicated that "the most important pillars of peace are responding to the aspirations of the people of South in their legitimate right to restore their state."

The STC said that the Houthis "bear responsibility for exacerbating the humanitarian and economic conditions."

In a related context, the PLC Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi called on the international community to put pressure on the Houthis and push them to the negotiating table.

Al-Alimi said, in a session yesterday on the sidelines of the Munich International Security Conference, that Iran "caused the failure of the Yemeni political process and the national dialogue in 2013."

Al-Alimi said, "I remind you that the Houthis are not with the peace project in Yemen, based on long experiences with these militias."

He called for support for the PLC and the Yemeni government. Adding, "I call for pumping funds from accredited organizations and agencies through the Central Bank in Aden."

Al-Alimi said that the international community must ensure that the Houthis abandon their "extremist ideological ideas" in order to reach a peaceful and negotiated solution.

The PLC Chairman accused the Houthis of cooperating and coordinating with "terrorist organizations, according to evidence obtained by the government, which includes the release of dozens of convicts in terrorism cases."

He pointed out that the Houthis had previously also released persons accused of involvement in the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000 off the coast of Aden.

Yesterday, Agence France-Presse quoted a website specializing in extremist groups' affairs that a prisoner exchange deal took place recently between the Houthis and AQAP.

AQAP revealed the exchange of two Houthi prisoners with AQAP fighters, Al-Qaqaa Al-Bayhani and Muwahid Al-Baydani, on February 14, according to the "SITE" website.

A security source confirmed to the agency in the Houthi-controlled Sanaa that an exchange of prisoners took place between the Houthis and Al-Qaeda.

For his part, the leader of the Houthi militia in Yemen, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, vowed on Friday to resume the war and target oil facilities. Pointing out that the current situation today is a war situation, even if there is a "de-escalation".

Abdulmalik renewed his group's accusations against the United States of deploying military bases in Yemen.

Abdulmalik said, in a speech commemorating the killing of his brother, Hussein Al-Houthi, the founder of the group, that Washington seeks to control the Islamic world.

Abdulmalik spoke of a "devilish method" that he said the West and Israel follow to corrupt the world, accusing them of causing epidemics and spreading contaminated vaccines.

Abdulmalik addressed Saudi Arabia by saying that they "advise and warn all together" and that their "patience will run out if you do not initiate an understanding in the humanitarian file."

Saudi media and Houthi officials talked about "major facilities" provided by the Saudi-led Coalition in the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, which allowed ships to pass without inspection.