ANSD : No breakthrough in Yemen U.N. talks

TUE 26 - 11 - 2024

Date: Jul 5, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

No breakthrough in Yemen U.N. talks

_{Associated Press}
SANAA: The U.N. envoy to Yemen expressed optimism Wednesday after meeting with top leaders of the Houthi rebels in a bid to end the country’s civil war, but a Houthi negotiator said there was no breakthrough in negotiations.

Martin Griffiths said in a statement before his departure from the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, that the rebels and their allies have expressed a “strong desire for peace” and discussed “concrete ideas for achieving peace,” without elaborating.

Griffiths has been conducting shuttle diplomacy in search of a political solution that would avert an all-out military assault.

“All parties have not only underscored their strong desire for peace, but have also engaged with me on concrete ideas for achieving peace,” Griffiths told reporters in Sanaa airport at the end of a three-day visit.

“I am especially thankful to [Houthi leader] Abdel Malek al-Houthi whom I met yesterday [Tuesday] for his support and the fruitful discussion we held,” he said.

Griffiths said he would brief the U.N. Security Council Thursday on the outcomes of his discussions and that he hoped to meet President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi “very soon,” for a second round of talks with his displaced government.

An Arab-led coalition allied with Hadi’s internationally recognized government has been at war with the Houthis since 2015, and previous peace efforts have failed.

The United Arab Emirates, a major pillar in the coalition, is leading the battle to retake the key port town of Hudaida from the Houthis but put the campaign on hold to give the envoy a chance to broker a peaceful resolution.

The U.N. hopes to prevent a full-scale coalition assault on Hudaida, a vital lifeline for a country already teetering on the brink of famine.

Fighting has largely been confined to the city’s outskirts.

Houthi negotiator Salem Moghlek told the AP that the envoy’s visit netted “nothing new.” He added that the Houthis did not recognize any cease-fire and there was no agreement on one with the UAE.

Griffiths met with Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the so-called Supreme Political Council Tuesday, during which Mashat warned of “prolonging the conflict under a U.N. cover.”

The government has called on the Houthis to withdraw from all the areas they control, including a “complete and unconditional” pullout from Hudaida.

The Houthis have refused to withdraw from Hudaida, but they recently offered to let the U.N. manage the port as part of a cease-fire in the city. Griffiths said earlier that both sides have agreed to the deal in principle, and that the U.N. would take over administration of the port as soon as they finalize the agreement.

The U.N. considers Yemen to be the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22 million people in need of assistance.

Around 70 percent of Yemen’s imported food and medicine arrives in Hudaida, and aid groups fear a protracted fight could shut down the port and potentially tip millions into starvation.

Houthis, accused by rivals of being an Iranian proxy, have arrested political opponents, including journalists.

The Yemeni Press Syndicate decried what it described as the abduction of Yemeni journalist Abdel-Salam al-Dais Tuesday in Sanaa by an armed Houthi force.

The syndicate held the group responsible and called for the release of al-Dais.

In southern Yemen, where the UAE acts as de facto ruler through militias it has financed and armed, 29 detainees were released Wednesday from Beir Ahmed prison in the southern city of Aden, according to two witnesses. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. An AP investigation last month exposed torture and sexual abuse rampant in prisons that sources say are run by the UAE, including Beir Ahmed.

Also Wednesday, the mothers of detainees and men who have disappeared held a demonstration in front of Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maysari’s house in Aden demanding the release of their sons, according to the relative of a detainee whose mother attended the meeting.

Al-Maysari said earlier that he has no control over the prisons.

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