Saudis do not want any good for Yemen: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Hussein al-Bukhaiti, a Yemeni activist and political commentator in Sana’a, to discuss the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.

The following is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: First of all, the situation in Yemen being described as a humanitarian catastrophe, but we have seen an escalation of the bombardment of Yemen on the part of the Saudis. Tell us a bit more about the conditions on the ground as you view them?

Bukhaiti: The condition still has not changed because this five days that they called ceasefire, it was only in the capital Sana’a because the UN envoy was staying in one of Sana’a hotels but only a few ships with fuels and supplies have gone and reached the Yemeni people. But we have to imagine for blockade of two months we need lots and more of this supplies and the Saudis they always want to make sure that we will not get anything, and they want any humanitarian aid to come through the Saudis and to be searched through the Saudis and this can take months, weeks if not months to search ships.

The only thing that the Saudis want, they want Yemeni people, they want them to accept the fact that the Saudis are the one who are going to tell us what to do in Yemen. They are the one who want to appoint any president they want and they do not want any good for Yemen and they are the only cause for this humanitarian crisis in Yemen because of the blockade and the constant bombardment of all Yemen infrastructure and hospitals and cutting off fuel supplies to come into Yemen.

Press TV: Mr. Bukhaiti, as we have just heard the UN envoy for Yemen calling for all Yemeni parties to take part in the dialogue that is set to take place next week in Geneva. How important is that dialogue in your opinion and will Saudi Arabia try to interfere?

Bukhaiti: I am sure that the Saudis will do whatever they can to interfere in this and to make it fail, the same like they did in Sana’a because we were about to reach an agreement between all parties under the supervision of the United Nations but like Mr. [Jamal] Benomar has said that the Saudi attack has made this negotiation fail. So this Geneva talk is going to be really important because it is in a neutral country. So the Saudis failed to force all parties to come to Riyadh as they want and as well as the UN Resolution 2216 has insisted about Riyadh because they know that we as Yemenis and as well Ansarullah and the GPC (General People's Congress) and others, they would not accept to go into a country that has attacked Yemen for two months.

So I am sure as the UN envoy said this will be a Yemeni talk, then I am sure that the Saudis will not have any effect in this and the only legitimacy that we will be using at the UN new talk in Geneva will be the outcomes of the national dialogue that everybody has agreed and signed it and as well the Peace [and National] Partnership Agreement.

And this as Abdul-Malik said yesterday in his speech, this will be a step to continue any talks because we are not going to start, and everybody must remember it, we are not ready to start any negotiation again and to start new agreement because we have a lot of agreement in Yemen but the problem is the implementation and this implementation has always come to an end because of the Saudi intervention in Yemen and hopefully in Geneva we will continue from where we stopped and this is how it is going to start in Geneva hopefully.   

AHK/HSN

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