RIMBO (Sweden): Yemen’s foreign minister on Saturday said the government-controlled city of Aden could be home to the country’s main airport, amid talks to reopen the rebel-held international airport in the capital Sanaa. “We are ready to reopen Sanaa international airport today ... but we have a vision that Aden will be the sovereign airport of Yemen,” Khaled al-Yamani told AFP in his first interview since the talks opened in Sweden on Thursday. “If the other side accepts ... flights could land in Aden and leave to Sanaa, Hodeida, other airports.” Yamani spoke on the sidelines of UN-brokered talks in the rural village of Rimbo, where warring Yemeni parties are gathered under the auspices of the UN.

Mutual accusations of not taking the talks seriously flew on Saturday, the third day of talks that have not as yet seen the delegations meet face to face. “Expectations always stem from experience, and from my experience I would say no, they are not serious,” said Rana Ghanem, a member of the government delegation and the only woman in either team. “We have shown that we are serious... but the other party has not shown seriousness,” Houthi representative Abdulmalik al-Hajji told reporters as talks closed on Saturday.

Sanaa international airport has been out of operation for years, severely damaged in air raids by the Saudi-led coalition, which controls Yemeni airspace. A government proposal to allow flights to and from Sanaa was categorically rejected by the rebels on Friday. Among the conditions set by the government are mandatory transit points in Aden and Sayoun, another government-held city, for plane inspections.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2018