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On 7 October, it was reported that Yemen's Houthi rebels and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, had accepted a peace plan brokered by the UN in Oman, as well as Security Council resolution 2216 of April this year. Saleh reiterated his acceptance in a TV interview five days later, adding that he was willing to quit his leadership of Yemen's largest party, the General People's Congress (GPC), to facilitate an end to the conflict.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric was right to describe this as "an important step," and Yemen's internationally recognised government and its allies should have acknowledged it as such. They had been insisting all along that an end to the conflict must be based on prior acceptance of resolution 2216.

The resolution reaffirmed the "legitimacy" of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, expressed alarm at the Houthis' "military escalation," and condemned "in the strongest terms" their "ongoing unilateral actions".

It also demanded that the Houthis "immediately and unconditionally ... end the use of violence; withdraw their forces from all areas they have seized, including the capital Sanaa; relinquish all additional arms seized from military and security institutions," and "refrain from any provocation or threats to neighbouring states".
Rejection

As such, acceptance of the resolution by the Houthis and Saleh meets the demands of the government and its allies, and is tantamount to a victory for the latter. It also represents the most important opportunity to end the conflict since it began. Unfortunately, however, the reception has been wholly dismissive.

"There must be an announcement of willingness to implement all articles of the resolution without any changes," said Hadi's press secretary, Mokhtar al-Rahbi. "We are ready to go to any talks after a clear acceptance of the implementation of the UN resolution."

However, it should suffice that acceptance came in the form of a Houthi letter to Ban and a TV announcement by Saleh. Both were clear, and most importantly acceptance was in writing and to the mediating party. Al-Rahbi claimed that the acceptance had come with conditions, but Reuters, which said it had seen the letter to Ban, reported that the Houthis "fully accepted" resolution 2216.

Given past experience, it is understandable why the Yemeni government has described the acceptance as a "manoeuvre". The Houthis have reneged on previous agreements, which set the stage for the current conflict, and Saleh has continued to play spoiler since a popular revolution led to his overthrow almost four years ago.

mehr ... http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/wasted-chance-end-yemens-conflict-1233931630