UN envoy departs Yemen after three-day visit

SANAA

UN envoy Martin Griffiths left Sanaa on Thursday following a three-day visit to Yemen during which he held intensive talks with Houthi rebel leaders.

“Griffiths left the country without issuing any press statements,” a source at Sanaa International Airport told Anadolu Agency.

The source, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the UN envoy had departed Yemen for the Jordanian capital, where his office is located.

Griffiths arrived in Sanaa on Tuesday to speak with Houthi leaders about implementation of a UN-backed ceasefire in Yemen’s coastal Al-Hudaydah province.

While in Yemen, Griffiths also met with Denmark’s Michael Lollesgaard, head of a UN observer force based in Al-Hudaydah.

In December, the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government agreed to withdraw all their fighters from the coastal province by Jan. 7.

Although the deadline was missed, Griffiths has said the warring parties both remain “committed” to implementing the agreement’s terms.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict.

Writing by Mahmoud Barakat