Yemeni Ansurullah Urges Saudi-Led Coalition to Consider Mediation Proposal

In a tweet on Wednesday, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, proposed that twelve countries, including Russia, as well as the United Nations mediate to end the Yemen conflict.

The top Houthi official suggested that four Arab countries, four Muslim countries, three Asian nations, Russia as well as the UN be included in the group of mediators.

He referred to Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan as his proposed countries.

The proposal comes a week after United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a ceasefire in all conflicts worldwide amid a global fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Guterres warned that in war-torn countries health systems have collapsed and the small number of health professionals left were often targeted in the fighting.

The world body has been trying to mediate an end to conflicts in countries including Syria, Yemen and Libya, while also providing humanitarian assistance to millions of civilians.

Ansarullah has welcomed the call, saying an aerial and maritime blockade imposed on Yemen by the Saudi regime and its coalition allies should be lifted to facilitate the adoption of preventive measures against the coronavirus outbreak.

While Yemen has not recorded any COVID-19 cases to date, the possibility of an outbreak threatens the war-ravaged country’s already fragile healthcare system.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis have died since the beginning of the war that Saudi Arabia and its allies launched in 2015 to restore power to Yemen’s former Riyadh-allied officials. The aggression has also brought entire Yemen to the edge of famine.

The United States and many of its allies have been providing political, military, logistical, and advisory support for the war.