Yemeni Activists Implement Initiative to Open Road Linking Sanaa to Marib
(AWP) - Yemeni activists launched the White Flag initiative, successfully opening the international road linking the provinces of al-Bayda and Marib in eastern Yemen after years of Houthi closure of the route linking Yemeni expatriates in Saudi Arabia to many provinces in the north.
According to local sources, the campaign succeeded in bypassing the last Houthi point in the area of al-Juba, southern Marib, after a three-day delay due to the Houthis’ refusal to allow them to pass.
Participants in the campaign said they have reached the outskirts of the first security point belonging to the local authorities in Marib.
They are expected to enter the city center as soon as the procedures to receive the local delegation bearing the white flag are finalized.
Abdel-Qawi al-Umari, Chairman of the coordinating committee for the White Flag initiative, said the march moved on with great response and support.
He explained, “There was an official initiative, the one by Major General Sultan al-Arada, who announced opening the blocked roads early on and challenged the Houthis. The convoy activists seized the moment with unparalleled intelligence and professionalism.”
He said that the legitimate authority in Marib had asked for several days to remove the roadblocks and war debris.
“Three of the delegation officials were summoned to see the reality for themselves. They were on the site while the machines were levelling the roads,” he added.
Mohamed al-Jabri, an official spokesman for the initiative, was keen to stress that it was a purely humanitarian one.
He explained, “We came here with self-driven and patriotic hearts seeking reconciliation and tolerance, away from any partisanship, sectarianism or racism. We only want to alleviate the suffering of the people.”
“We have no agreements with any side. It was a humanitarian initiative that responded to national and humanitarian sentiments,” noted Jabri.
Mohamed Mabkhout Saleh, one of the Marib tribal leaders who received the march, said the initiative embodies the suffering of the Yemeni people due to the closure of roads linking the nation’s regions to one another.
“The initiative expresses and translates the reality of those who shoulder the burdens of this homeland and the suffering of this oppressed people,” he added.