YEMEN Press Agency

Abdulsalam: the US envoy presented an old plan that Saudi Arabia had previously proposed

SANAA, March 18 (YPA) – The head of the National Delegation Mohammed Abdulsalam said on Wednesday that the position of the new US administration is not any different from that of the previous administration.

“Joe Biden’s administration is following the same policy as that of former president Donald Trump,” Abdulsalam told Al Jazeera.

He said the US has offered no new plan for peace in Yemen, noting Washington has, through Oman, presented an old plan for the resolution of the conflict.

Abdulsalam added that the US plan is not a new plan for the resolution of the Yemeni crisis as it was already presented by the United Nations.

“Through the Omani mediator, we are waiting for the US response to our vision for a solution [to the Yemeni crisis],” he said.

“The Yemeni National Salvation Government is ready to negotiate if the humanitarian aspect is separated from the military and political aspects,” he added. “In the proposed plan they place the opening of the port of Hodeidah and the airport of Sana’a within the framework of barter, we cannot accept.”

Regarding lifting the designation of Ansarullah, Abdusalam said when the US found that the designation would impede its diplomatic rhetoric, it canceled it.

The head of the National Delegation continued, saying, “We boycotted the meetings with the UN envoy because he used the meetings to raise his briefing to the Security Council only, not for the sake of our people.”

Regarding the battle of Marib, Abdulsalam said that it has been raging since the beginning of the war and is one of the most important military bases for the occupation, adding that the battles in the vicinity of Marib have more than a year, according to the testimony of the governor of Marib, appointed by the pro-aggression government.

He pointed out that the aggression party rejected the nine points that Sana’a raised regarding Marib and handed them over to all concerned authorities.

“We are in the position of the defende. When the noose on the coalition leadership and the mercenaries became tight, the international voice rose,” he said. “We have not heard the international voice about the suffering that all Yemen suffers.”

For news that Saudi Arabia wants to buy Turkish drones, Abdulsalam said that there is nothing new in the matter as Riyadh has been buying Turkish drones since the beginning of the aggression.

“Saudi Arabia buys weapons from countries around the world and has been unable to make any progress. Turkish, Chinese, American and other drones are being shot down by Yemeni air defenses.”

Abdusalam stressed that as long as the aggression and siege continues, Sana’a will continue to respond with ballistic missiles and drones.

“Launching of ballistic missiles and aircraft is a defensive position. In the last month, the aggression forces launched more than 1000 raids, 90% of which were on Marib,” he said.

“President Al-Mashat announced his previous initiative to stop strategic operations by drones and ballistic missiles in exchange for stopping the raids, but the other party did not accept this initiative.”

Abdulsalam emphasized that any operation carried out by the Army and Popular Committees is announced, “any operation that is not announced, we are not responsible”.

With regard to the detention of fuel tankers, Mohammad Abdulsalam confirmed that there are 14 oil tankers banned from entering Hodeidah by order of the coalition of aggression.

He said that the reason for the oil crisis in Sana’a is the continuation of the blockade by the aggression forces. “No ship entered the port of Hodeidah in the past days. We are ready for the media to enter the port and prove that.”

On preventing dealing in the new currency, Abdulsalam explained that it is “our right to prevent the currency printed by the other party in order to face the high exchange rate of the dollar.”

He emphasized that what happened in the southern regions was the result of aggression and occupation and the calls for secession came because of the occupation.

The head of the National Delegation also affirmed, “We are with the Yemeni unity, we rejected the regions project. We call for Yemen to be a unified state of soil and sovereignty, and we reject the division.”

He expressed his hope that Yemen would enjoy security and stability and lift the siege on all Yemenis.

E.M