Ansarullah: Ceasefire Proposal Ultimatum to Saudi-Led Coalition

“The Yemeni army and popular committees in Yemen are prepared for confrontation against the occupiers and their mercenaries and the proposal to stop military operations is an ultimatum and a measure to take excuses from the aggressor Saudi coalition to continue attacks against Yemen,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the politburo of Ansarullah movement, said in an interview with the Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news channel.

“After four years of war, Saudi Arabia is making excuses that it continues the war to defend itself against the missiles fired at the country and in reaction to the Yemeni army’s attacks at its borders”, he said.

Al-Bukhaiti explained that Yemen had not fired even a single bullet in the first 40 days of the war in the hope that Riyadh would review its policies and stop attacks but in vain.

Yemen’s popular Ansarullah movement, which has been defending the nation against a Saudi-led war, announced on Sunday that it is halting its counterstrikes as a goodwill measure to speed up “peace” process.

“After our contacts with the UN envoy and his request to stop drone and missile strikes… We announce our initiative… to halt missile and drone strikes on the countries of aggression,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, stated, Reuters reported.

The group added that it was ready for a broader ceasefire if “the Saudi-led coalition wants peace”, adding that “(the decision) came to support the UN envoy, to show good faith and support the peace efforts”.

United Nations special envoy for the impoverished country Martin Griffiths is trying to reconvene conflict resolution talks in Sweden.

Those involved in the conflict have given “firm assurances” that they were committed to attending the talks “to be convened shortly”, he was quoted by the agency as telling the UN Security Council on Friday.

Official UN figures say that more than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began in March 2015. But the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) believes that at least 56,000 people have lost their lives in the war. The violence has also left around two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 27 million relying on aid amid an ongoing strict naval and aerial blockade. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

an Oxfam representative stated that the US, UK, and French governments are behind millions of people starving in Yemen because they are “supporting this war”.

“We have 14 million people starving,” Richard Stanforth, Oxfam UK’s regional policy officer for the Middle East, told RT, adding that “British, French, American governments are all behind this, they are all supporting this war”.