Saudi Arabia didn’t ask Algeria to take part in “peacekeeping force” in Yemen

The spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition denied media reports that Algeria had been asked to take part in mediating peace talks between warring parties in Yemen.

Rumours have been circulating that the Algerian Deputy Defense Minister and ANP Chief of Staff, Ahmed Gaid Salah, was allegedly invited to mediate in future peace talks by his Qatari and Saudi counterparts.

The media reports quoted an anonymous Algerian diplomat.

Major General, Ahmed Al Assiri, the coalition spokesperson, quickly denied the allegations and said that no conversation took place between anyone from the Algerian, Qatari and Saudi defense ministries.

When the Saudi-led coalition began their operation in March last year, Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra stated that Algeria is not in support of military intervention in Yemen and that Algiers would not get involved in the military operations. He called for a political solution to the Yemeni conflict, based on national dialogue.

Algeria’s steadfast stance has not changed since then.

An Algerian diplomatic source earlier revealed that his country has rejected a request from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to participate in a “peacekeeping” force in Yemen, after the cessation of the Saudi-led coalition air raids

The Algerian source said that the recent visit to the armies’ leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to Algeria was in the purpose of this request on the Algerian side, media outlets reported.

The diplomatic source revealed that “Saudi Arabia wants to stop the war and promote the establishment of a peacekeeping force in Yemen, as it seeks for the participation of states that are trusted by the Saudis and the Yemenis, while the Algerian response was that it would consider the proposal, but at the moment, the answer is the utter rejection”.

Yemen has been locked in a bitter conflict between Shia Houthi fighters allied with forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh and government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, along with local tribes and resistance forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes.