Saudi uninvited party in Yemen peace talks: Pundit

Press TV has interviewed Hazem Salem, an activist and political analyst from Cairo, and Richard Millet, a journalist and political commentator from London, to discuss the prospects of a new round of peace talks in Yemen amid relentless Saudi bombardment of the impoverished nation.

“The situation in Yemen is very alarming, because the talks should be between two Yemeni groups and the Yemeni people,” Salem says, adding the presence of Saudi representatives in the Yemeni negotiations is uninvited. The expert points out that the Saudis have invaded Yemen to impose their puppet government there.

He maintains, “Saudi Arabia wants to impose a government from above by Yemen’s fugitive ex-President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Iran is helping people from below to have their own say.”

The Yemeni people should be given the chance to hold domestic talks to overcome differences and bring democracy to their own country, he argues.

The Saudi regime has no justification for the aggression against Yemen but the Saudi authorities are under pressure for the war crimes happening in that nation, Salem says. “Saudi Arabia cannot have a safe exit out of Yemen, but Saudi Arabia should be pressured out of Yemen.”

Millet, for his part, says that the only way to resolve the situation in Yemen is through negotiations, but “if that peace process is not allowed to take place; then, the war is going to continue.”

He also says Saudi Arabia itself is in a state of “disarray” because the kingdom knows it is losing the war. The Saudis, who are under pressure from different sides, will continue to pound Yemen to gain momentum and further assert themselves, he argues.