Commission clearing Sanaa of armed groups

The Commission of Military Affairs in Yemen, formed in accordance with the Gulf initiative, approved on Wednesday to clear Sanaa of armed groups. The procedures will begin next Saturday, which include evacuating the streets of armoured vehicles, trucks, armed crews, armed individuals, and equipment while stressing on the return of military and central security units to their permanent camps. The commission held a meeting chaired by interim president Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, attended by UN delegate in Yemen, Jamal Benomar, where it discussed the practical roadmap to evacuate the capital of military units and armed tribesmen, and the return of all tribal groups and armed militia to their original locations. All facilities and sites stationed with their arms, ammo, and equipment were to be cleared. The commission approved the evacuation of all governmental and private facilities, including hotels, schools, residencies, and streets, of any armed groups introduced after January 2011. The comission held the Ministry of Interior, represented by police, central security, management of public facilities, general security, and military police responsible for securing and protecting all facilities and vital targets, including embassies, consulates, banks, and governmental institutions and departments. The Ministry of Interior is to be supported by units from the armed forces upon the minister’s request to reinforce and protect vital and significant targets. The military commission also agreed to remove checkpoints and patrols from patrols from the streets, and restore the situation to what it was before January 2011, with the patrols and checkpoints in their original locations according to the plan of the Ministry of Interior. The plan is to preserve the security zone of the capital as it was, until the commission reaches a decision and arrangement to provide security for the capital. It assigned the secretary of the capital and the Ministry of Public Works to cooperate with the Department of Military Engineers to work on removing roadblocks, trenches, barriers, and territorial waste from public streets, in addition to repairing what has been destroyed. The commission also approved distributing members of the military commission on military and security units that are to start executing their missions from 8am on Decembner 17 for a week. It asked all those concerned with the implementation to promptly and regularly report to the command and control center in the Ministry of Defence, concerning the level of commitment and implementation. Chairman of the commission, interim president Hadi, said to Yemeni News Agency Saba:“The situation in Sanaa does not please anyone, it is divided with roadblocks that fill the streets, and armed vehicles full of militias and tribes...the interior ministry is responsible for security, and will start next Saturday an extensive process of cleansing the streets and reopening blocked roads.” Hadi called for “repairing the pipeline and restoring power from Maarib gas station, for the capital and other cities should not remain a hostage to reckless and irresponsible acts…we want broad participation from all political, cultural, social, and military figures, to restore life to what it was, and to exert full cooperation with the commission. We are all faced with a historical responsibility before the Yemeni people to get to safety.” Benomar also said: “The International Community expects Yemenis to fulfill the Security Council’s Resolution 2014. I recall the beginning of the dialogue between the opposition and the ruling party, and the negotiations that were carried out to find a political settlement and solutions in Yemen, including a Military Commission, which was a dream and is now a reality.” Benomar noted that “the situation in Yemen today is top of the agenda for the Security Council, as Yemen’s security is very important to the world, thus the issuance of 2014 resolution which condemned human rights violations committed by different parties.”