Thousands of people organized in Yemen's central Taiz on Wednesday a massive protest at the exclusion of the city from an Arab-Houthi agreement to lift blockades in Yemen.
The Saudi-led Arab Coalition and Houthis during closed talks in Muscat this week reached an agreement that provides for an immediate lifting of the Arab coalition's blockade on Houthi controlled air and sea ports and leaves lifting the seven year Houthi siege on the government-held Taiz city up to future discussions.
The protesters condemned the agreement and chanted slogans like "Oh [UN] envoy shame on You. Taiz Rejects the Siege" and "They have opened the Hodeidah Seaport for [Houthis] to smuggle [arms]."
"We are protesting at the successive UN-brokered deals that each time give Houthis a new gain and repeat to Taizis the same empty promise: of lifting the blockade," Adel Noman a protester said.
"In 2018, the brokers of the Stockholm Agreement planned for a Houthi uncontested takeover of the strategic Hodeidah city and gave Taiz a promise to remove the Houthi siege. Houthis got what had been planned (the city's control), while Taiz's siege was left unaddressed.
Now there is another deal where Houthis are getting a sure gain (lifting sea and air ports blockades) and the lifting of Taiz's siege is again a promise being repeated – tentatively -to sort of justify the new gains that will be given to Houthis."
- This article was first published on April 6.