UN envoy clears up talks agenda with Yemen’s rebel chief
A United Nations envoy met Yemen’s rebel chief on Thursday to nail down details of peace talks expected in December, a day before a planned visit to the battleground port city of Hodeida.
Martin Griffiths, who arrived in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Wednesday, is pushing for negotiations early next month in Sweden to help end years of conflict that have left Yemen facing famine.
The diplomat’s visit to Hodeida on Friday is aimed at encouraging Iran-aligned Huthi rebels and government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition to keep a lid on hostilities ahead of the talks in Stockholm, a UN source said.
The conflict in Yemen, which escalated when the Saudi-led alliance intervened in 2015, has killed thousands and left up to 14 million Yemenis at risk of starvation according to UN agencies. Both sides have in the past week expressed support for the envoy’s mission to hold discussions, and violence in the Red Sea city of Hodeida has diminished despite intermittent clashes.
The port city has a crucial role as the entry point for nearly all of the country’s imports and humanitarian aid.
Griffiths and Yemeni rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi during their meeting addressed “what can facilitate new discussions in December”, rebel spokesperson Mohammed Abdelsalam said on Twitter.
Mohammed Ali alHuthi, head of the rebels’ Higher Revolutionary Committee and an influential political figure, said the rebels were ready for peace.
“We support peace. We are ready for peace if that is what they [the Saudi-led coalition] want,” he said after also meeting Griffiths.
Humanitarian organisations are desperate to see the current peace push translate into a more permanent halt to the bloodshed. The heads of the UN’s humanitarian and children’s agencies said the “recent de-escalation in fighting in Hodeida is providing a desperately needed respite to hundreds of thousands of civilians”.
“We urge all parties to maintain it,” a statement by Mark Lowcock and Henrietta Fore said.
US defence secretary Jim Mattis confirmed on Wednesday peace discussions between the Huthis and the internationally-recognised government look set for “very, very early” in December.
He said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – which is also a key member of the military coalition supporting the loyalists – were “fully on board”. –
Humanitarian organisations are desperate to see the current peace push translate into a more permanent halt to the bloodshed