Houthis put conditions on meeting with new UN envoy
SMA NEWS – ADEN
The chief negotiator for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement said on Sunday his militias’ conditions must be met before accepting to meet with the United Nations new special envoy for Yemen.
The appointment of Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg on Friday as the new UN envoy comes as the United Nations and United States struggle to secure a breakthrough to end more than six years of war between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen’s recognised government.
A UN-led initiative for a ceasefire and the lifting of sea and air restrictions imposed by the coalition on Houthi-held areas has stalled, with the coalition seeking a simultaneous deal and the Houthis trying to impose a agreement on specific aspects such as lifting the blockade before any truce.
Their stance has extended the conflict and its related humanitarian tragedy.
“There is no use in having any dialogue before airports and ports are opened,” Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam, who is based in Oman, tweeted in response to Grundberg’s appointment.
When contacted by Reuters, Abdulsalam said in a text message a meeting would be pointless as Grundberg “has nothing in his hands” and that there was no progress following last month’s visit to Riyadh by the US envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking.
Lenderking’s latest trip to the region came as ground battles spread beyond Yemen’s gas-rich Marib, the government’s last northern stronghold that the Houthis are trying to seize.
The conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government from the capital Sana’a, but the war has been in military stalemate for years with the group controlling most big urban centres. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
