A revised deal that was earlier on proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry would be backed by President Hadi-led government, according to sources in his government.
The initial proposal was rejected as “a redemption for the Houthis and ex-president Salah” as it requested that Hadi transfers his authority to a Vice-President to be appointed on consensus with the Houthi Movement.
However, the latest version to be presented by UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has already been accepted, in principle, by the government, according to reports. Details of the deal are yet to emerge.
Sources stated that the amended document provides for a political solution to the war in Yemen which involves the withdrawal of the Houthi Movement and their allies from the occupied territories and the surrendering of their weapons. The new document seems to reflect the decisions of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the UN Security Council.
It is unclear if the rebels will welcome the new deal because a similar agreement presented by special envoy Ismail was turned down during the Kuwait talks held earlier this year. The rebels have been demanding a comprehensive agreement and calling for a transitional unity government.
President Hadi had stressed that he would neither surrender Yemen to “Iran and its tools” nor will he “allow the sectarians and terrorists to mess up with the present and future of our Yemeni people.”
The Houthi Movement and their allies are believed to be backed by Iran and that has contributed to the war in Yemen being considered as a proxy war between Riyadh, with its coalition of international forces, and Tehran or as a war between Sunnis and Shias.
Meanwhile, financial experts have signaled that banks in the rebel-controlled area are on the verge of bankruptcy and that could lead to significant economic and financial ramifications in one of the poorest countries in the region already ridden by drought and war.
