RIYADH: A Saudi-led coalition declared on Tuesday an end to four weeks of air strikes in Yemen, saying the threat of rebels there had been removed and that operations were entering a political phase.

However, it left open the option of resuming strikes if the movements of the Houthi rebels warranted it, while adding that a naval blockade on the strategic country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula would continue.

Iran welcomed the move, calling it a “step forward” towards resolving the conflict, while there was no immediate reaction from the Houthis.

The coalition “ended Operation Decisive Storm based on a request by the Yemeni government and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi”, its spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri, said in Riyadh.

A coalition statement said the next step would aim to resume the political process in Yemen, delivering aid and “fighting terrorism” in the country, home to a deadly Al Qaeda franchise.

Diplomatically, the coalition would seek “international cooperation... to prevent arms from reaching” the rebels. It would also “confront movements and military operations of Houthi militia and their allies... to prevent them from using the arms stolen from military camps or smuggled from abroad,” it added.

Coalition forces would “continue to protect civilians in Aden and target any attempts to carry out operations” by the militia, Brig Gen Assiri added.

Speaking in Tehran, foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the “establishment of a ceasefire and a stop to the killing of innocent and defenceless people is a step forward”.

In remarks carried by state news agency IRNA, she said she hoped humanitarian aid would be sent soon and that “a situation for talks between Yemeni parties and groups for formation of a comprehensive government is resumed”.

Located on key shipping routes and bordering oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Yemen plunged into chaos last year when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa.

Iran welcomes move and calls it a step forward towards resolving conflict

The Saudi defence ministry said the air strikes had managed “to successfully remove threats to Saudi Arabia’s security and that of neighbouring countries”.

The UN health agency said more than 900 people had been killed since the strikes were launched against rebels clashing with pro-government forces.

The coalition of Arab nations launched the strikes in a bid to restore the authority of Mr Hadi, who fled to Riyadh as the rebels advanced on his southern refuge Aden.

The coalition says it has carried out more than 2,000 strikes, gained complete control of Yemeni airspace and knocked out rebel infrastructure.

In Aden, 21 people, including 13 civilians, were killed in fighting between pro-Hadi forces and rebels, sources said.

In the central province of Ibb, several civilians were killed in a strike targeting rebel air defence missiles in a residential area, witnesses said.

Farther south in Shabwa province, tribal sources reported several deaths in raids and fighting.

In Riyadh, a Western diplomat said he thought it was a “good time for the Saudis to get out of this”, though the political objectives had not been achieved.

“The Houthis are still there where they had been before,” said the diplomat.

At the same time, Al Qaeda has taken advantage of the chaos to seize swathes of territory in Hadramawt province in the southeast, including its capital Mukalla.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2015

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