WASHINGTON: A UN peace plan for Yemen calls on the Ansar Allah movement to give up its ballistic missiles in return for an end to the bombing campaign against it by a Saudi-led coalition and a transitional governance agreement, according to a draft document and sources.
The plan, which has not been made public and could be modified, is the latest effort to end Yemen’s three-year-old civil war, which has spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The conflict pits Ansar Allah, who took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, against other Yemeni forces backed by a coalition loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Previous efforts to end the conflict, which according to the United Nations has killed more than 10,000 people, have failed. It is unclear whether the new plan will fare any better, given the divergent interests of fighters on the ground and international backers.
The draft document seen by Reuters and confirmed by two sources familiar with it says that as a step towards new security arrangements, “heavy and medium weapons including ballistic missiles shall be handed over by non-state military actors in an orderly and planned fashion.”
“No armed groups shall be exempt from disarmament,” it says.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the language included the Ansar Allah, who have launched ballistic missiles at neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
The document also cites plans to create a transitional government, in which “political components shall be adequately represented,” in an apparent nod to the Ansar Allah, who would be unlikely to cede Sanaa without participation in a future government.
“The intention is to link security and political aspects starting with a cessation of fighting... then to move towards a withdrawal of forces and the formation of a national unity government. This last objective could possibly be the hardest,” one of the sources said.
The peace plan was drafted by special UN envoy Martin Griffiths, who is due to present a “framework for negotiations” in Yemen by mid-June.
An Ansar Allah official cautiously welcomed the UN efforts, describing a ceasefire as the first building block in the political process.
“Our optimism will be determined by how serious and respectful the other parties are of the UN role,” the official said, noting that previous truces had failed. — Reuters
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