Yemen Aggressors Blocking Every Step of Stockholm Deal: Swedish Analyst

"The murderous blockade (on Yemen) is a diplomatic house of cards, with no legal ground in international law," Ulf Sandmark said in an interview with Tasnim.

"Now the aggressors are hiding behind a ceremony of negotiation procedures, blocking every step of the Stockholm agreement, which was very important as it was the first step to expose to the world the diplomatic charades going on to keep the war and the hunger catastrophe going," he added.

Sandmark is a Swedish analyst, economist and human rights activist as well as a longtime collaborator of American political figure Lyndon H. LaRouche. Sandmark is the chairman of the Schiller Institute in Sweden and the Stockholm Correspondent for the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR). As a child, he lived for three years with his family in Addis Ababa and became active in Third world development issues at the time of his studies at the Stockholm School of Economics. He has written many articles and proposals for development programs, including "The Phoenix program - Discussion points for the reconstruction of Syria" (coauthor Hussein Askary) about how to realize the major potential for recovery in linking up Syria to the New Silk Road. As a chairman for 20 years of the Anti-Drug Coalition in Sweden, he has written about how to dismantle the drug banks and their narco-terrorist bands. He has also delivered speeches to various international conferences, including a two-day conference held in London to "support the Yemeni people against the Anglo-American-Saudi imperial war."

Following is the full text of the interview:

Tasnim: The Saudi-led war on Yemen, which grinds into its fifth year, has led to the world's largest humanitarian crisis. The war has devastated the lives of millions of people, many of whom on the brink of starvation and desperate for food aid to survive. The malnourishment of children in Yemen leaves them not only hungry and physically weak, but also easy prey for diseases like cholera. What do you think about the heinous crimes committed by the Saudi regime and its backers, mainly the US and the UK?

Sandmark: Yes, I think it is very important to point to the US and UK as the main powers behind the war. The otherwise current use of the name “Saudi-led Coalition” is blurring the fact that the Saudis, UAE and their regional allies would never dare to start this war without the support from the war factions in US and UK. Nor would the UN Resolution 2216 be allowed to be abused to expand an embargo against the Yemeni people, to set up a blockade against a whole people and launch a devastating war on mainly civilian targets. Nowhere in the UN statutes is it allowed to create a humanitarian crisis in the name of the UN and keep it going year after year. The war is violating the sovereignty of the Republic of Yemen of settling its own governance. It is part of a regime change and perpetual destabilization policy to preserve the challenged old order of world domination based on British geopolitics otherwise known as “divide and rule”. The justification of the war, as a war on terror, is turned upside down as London for long has been the center for most terrorist organizations of the world and the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) and Al Qaida terrorists in Yemen are used as mercenaries for the Western allies just like in Syria and other targets for destabilization. My full statement about London as a center of terrorism is here.

Tasnim: As you know, in the first major breakthrough in peace efforts, the warring parties agreed at December talks in Sweden, the first in two years, on a ceasefire in Hudaydah. However, the Saudi-led coalition and their mercenaries have violated the ongoing ceasefire in the port city many times, by attacking residential areas there. What is your opinion about the truce violations? What role can the UN play in this regard?

Sandmark: What is lacking in the battle to open Hudaydah for deliveries of food and necessary supplies is exactly to pinpoint the responsibility of the US and UK for the war. Just one warship from them, or from the French navy, would be enough to escort the cargo ships into the Hudaydah harbor. No one in the “Saudi coalition” would dare to attack such a Western naval vessel. The murderous blockade is a diplomatic house of cards, with no legal ground in international law. Now the aggressors are hiding behind a ceremony of negotiation procedures, blocking every step of the Stockholm agreement, which was very important as it was the first step to expose to the world the diplomatic charades going on to keep the war and the hunger catastrophe going.

Tasnim: How do you predict the future of the country's crisis? In your opinion, how can Yemeni groups end the crisis through dialogue and negotiation?

Sandmark: The resistance of the heroic Yemeni army and people against the aggression is celebrated in these days in many cities also in the Western world and certainly in the astounding mass demonstrations in Yemen. It is of historic significance as a part of bringing about a new community of shared future for mankind. The old order based on geopolitics and perpetual war is going down. The new Silk Road policy of peace through development is strengthened every day with new alliances, like between Italy and China. This shift will strengthen a system of national sovereignty, peace and development all over the world. The starving people of Yemen have no time, but the aggressors against Yemen have even less time and are getting more and more desperate to achieve some “victory”. The well-organized resistance by the government of Yemen is correctly already now building for the dialogue among all Yemenis to settle a future rule based on a development plan incorporating all parts of the nation. Like the successful negotiations at Moevenpick Hotel just before the war started, the Yemenis can come to a new agreement as soon as the aggression stops.