DUBAI — Flights carrying patients in need of urgent medical attention will begin from the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday, aid and diplomatic sources said, a long-sought confidence-building measure in diplomatic efforts to end the five-year war. “It is hoped these flights will enable the opening of regular medical ‘bridge’ flights for sick patients,” NRC said. Although the Houthis control Sanaa airport, access is restricted by the coalition, which controls the air space. The medical flights were the result of months of negotiations and the project had received an “extraordinary” amount of diplomatic support, U.N. Yemen Envoy Martin Griffiths said in an address to the Security Council last month. Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said 32,000 people were registered on medical evacuation lists.

Source: National Post February 03, 2020 11:26 UTC