Yemen: Aden government and Houthis agree measures to 'de-escalate'

The internationally recognised government of Yemen has signed an agreement with the Houthi movement to "de-escalate" tensions between the two sides, relaxing restrictions on the banking sector and resuming flights by the national airline.

According to a statement by the UN, the two sides informed the special envoy of the secretary-general for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, of the new agreement on Monday.

Among the points listed in the agreement were "cancelling all the recent decisions and procedures against banks by both sides and refraining in the future from any similar decisions or procedures", as well as "resuming Yemenia Airways’ flights between Sanaa and Jordan and increasing the number of flights to three daily flights, and operating flights to Cairo and India daily or as needed."

The government of Yemen, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, has been at war with the Houthis (officially called Ansar Allah) since 2015. The Iran-aligned rebel movement controls the capital Sanaa and most of the country.

The fighting has seen much of the country plunged into ruin with hundreds of thousands dead and widespread destruction of infrastructure and food shortages.

In December, the two sides in Yemen committed to a UN-led roadmap to end the war, agreeing to work towards "the resumption of an inclusive political process".

Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, threw the future of the roadmap into doubt, despite Saudi Arabia's relatively muted response to the attacks.

Two other facets of Monday's agreement involved convening meetings "to address the administrative, technical, and financial challenges faced by" Yemenia, which has seen its operations severely reduced as a result of the ongoing conflict and a Saudi-backed land and air siege.

It also involves "initiating the convening of meetings to discuss all economic and humanitarian issues based on the roadmap”.

The government-controlled central bank in May banned transactions with six banks in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa for failing to abide by an order to relocate to Aden, which is under the control of the Saudi-backed government.

The Houthis said the move was a disguised attempt by the United States and Saudi Arabia to exert financial pressure on the Houthi banking system, which uses different bank notes with different exchange rates.

In response, they banned any dealings with 13 banks in Aden, preventing people in Houthi-held areas from getting remittances through them or withdrawing and depositing money.