BBC Yemen Update, page-622

Under pressure, Al Houthis call for ceasefire
They also seemed to be concerned by growing international support for coalition
Published: 16:22 August 1, 2018 Gulf News
Omar Shariff, Deputy GCC/Middle East Editor

Dubai: An Al Houthi announcement on Wednesday of a two-week pause in Red Sea operations is an indication that the militia Al Houthis is under increasing pressure from a Saudi-led Arab coalition offensive against it.
In an email interview with Gulf News, Graham Griffiths, a senior analyst at Control Risks, said, “The Al Houthis are certainly under pressure [as a result of the coalition offensive], but it is unclear the extent to which this is a sincere gesture by Mohammad Ali Al Houthi or a gambit to buy time and calm fears regarding the threat to shipping in the Red Sea. [But] the warring sides remain far apart when it comes to how to end the conflict, and we are yet to see much willingness from either side to offer concessions.”
In a post on Twitter, Mohammad Ali Al Houthi, head of the group’s “Supreme Revolutionary Commission”, reiterated calls for a “political solution” to the conflict.
“Our initiative would include instructions from Yemeni official parties [a reference to militia institutions] to halt all military and naval operations for a specified, renewable period,” he said.
Al Houthis’ social media accounts said the suspension would last two weeks.

The coalition-backed Yemeni government, which is currently headquartered in the coastal city of Aden, has yet to issue a formal response to the Al Houthi proposal.
The government, however, has previously said it would not negotiate with the militia until the latter surrendered the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeida.
Al Houthis have rejected the notion of a unilateral withdrawal from Hodeida but observers believe the militants have become increasingly concerned over a growing international support for the coalition.
Earlier this month, UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths proposed a plan by which Al Houthis would pull out of Hodeida, after which Yemeni police and UN observers would fill the vacuum.
US Defence Secretary James Mattis met with Oman’s Foreign Minister Yousuf Bin Alawi to discuss Yemen on July 27, and Griffiths met with Al Houthis’ political leadership in Sana’a over the weekend.
In the course of the war, which has lasted for more than three years, Al Houthis have tried repeatedly to target international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
On July 26, after Al Houthi attacks against Saudi tankers, Riyadh suspended oil shipments through Bab Al Mandeb, a key waterway.
The move by the kingdom could have encouraged Western countries to commit more support to coalition and Yemeni government aims, especially at a time when the coalition is steadily eroding Al Houthi military strength in Yemen.
Another reason for the ceasefire offer could be to engage in talks while they still hold strategically important territory, like the capital Sana’a and also parts of the key port city of Hodeida.
The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen’s civil war in early 2015 just months after an Al Houthi-coup ousted Yemen’s internationally-recognised government in Sana’a.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has since ruled Yemen between Riyadh and Aden, where the legitimate government set up its temporary base.
Since 2015, military operations against Al Houthis have been able to regain large swathes of the country from the militants’ grip.
However, main population centres still remain under their control.
The coalition accuses Iran of smuggling weapons into Al Houthi hands via the Red Sea port city of Hodeida—in defiance of UN resolutions.
The current offensive aims to liberate Hodeida in order to deprive the militants of their main source of weapons and aid.