Role of Oman praised as Yemen ceasefire in sight

Muscat: A 72-hour ceasefire in Yemen is to be announced within days, United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has said.
He praised the efforts being exerted by the Sultanate under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to end the war and peacefully settle the conflict in the sisterly Yemeni Republic, expressing his thanks and gratitude to His Majesty for all support rendered by the Sultanate to the UN efforts in this regard.
In an Interview with Oman News Agency (ONA), he said that the visit paid by Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General to the Sultanate last February was to express the UN’s gratitude to His Majesty, his Government and the Omani people for the Sultanate’s efforts at the regional and international levels, as well as its continuous support for the UN’s efforts, particularly for the Yemeni crisis.
The UN Envoy also commended the efforts exerted by the State of Kuwait under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, who exerted sincere efforts to reach a peaceful solution for this conflict.
As for the talks he conducted on Friday with delegations of the Yemeni Ansar Allah and Conference Party, who are currently in Muscat, he affirmed to ONA that an agreement will be declared during the few coming days on a 72 hour extendable ceasefire deal in Yemen, as well as activating the Truce and Coordination committee to make the deal come
into force. “ I will visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia later today to meet President Hadi for this purpose,” he added.
He pointed out that during the two coming weeks, the real paper of the UN integrated plan for peace and solving the Yemeni issue will be put forward.
He affirmed that the Yemeni Ansar Allah and Conference Party are convinced on the importance of ceasefire as they agreed to activate the Truce and Coordination Committee.
He also affirmed that the two parties expressed their readiness to get involved with the Committee’s work, as this is the “most positive point during my talks” in the Sultanate
of Oman. He further said that putting forward the real paper for the peace plan in Yemen to become a working plan in a bid to reach an integrated and comprehensive peace requires more consultations, as the ideas are available and the security matter should be crystalised, which includes withdrawal and handing over arms.