UN envoy in Yemen for talks with rebels on port
SANAA: The UN envoy for Yemen was in Sanaa on Monday for talks with rebels aimed at finding a solution to fighting in the port city of Hodeida, which the insurgents hold.
Martin Griffiths is set to meet with the Iran-allied Huthi rebels, who control the capital along with the Red Sea city of Hodeida, home to the country’s most valuable port.
The British diplomat did not make a statement upon his arrival at the Yemeni capital’s international airport.
Griffiths had already been leading UN diplomatic efforts on ending Yemen’s three-year conflict when a UAE-backed government offensive was launched to retake Hodeida port on June 13.
The UAE, which is part of a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting on the government’s side since March 2015, has been demanding the rebels withdraw from both the port and city to avoid a military assault on denselypopulated Hodeida.
“The UN special envoy (is) expected ... to sit down with the militia group (Huthis) to try and find a political solution and to achieve a general framework for negotiations ,” said Turki alMaliki, a spokesman for a Saudiled coalition fighting in Yemen.
“The Huthis are yet to change their position,” he said on Monday, referring to the coalition demand for their withdrawal.
“The operation continues to put pressure to change the position” of the Huthis, he added.
Two weeks of UN shuttle diplomacy have not yet found a solution to the offensive on Hodeida, backed by the United Arab Emirates and its allies supporting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The Hodeida offensive has raised fears for civilians in a country already devastated by years of war between the Huthis and Hadi’s Gulf-backed government.
The United Arab Emirates said Sunday it had halted the offensive to give a chance to UN diplomatic efforts.
Hodeida port is the entry point for some 70 per cent of imports to Yemen, where eight million people face imminent famine.
Both the UAE and the Hadi government have held firm to their rejection of anything short of a full Huthi withdrawal. — AFP