UN envoy hails ‘positive signals’ from Yemen war rivals

SANAA

UN envoy Martin Griffiths on Wednesday said he had recently received "positive and constructive" signals from both of Yemen’s warring camps.

Griffiths made the remarks at a press conference held at Sanaa’s international airport following a two-day visit during which he met leaders of the Shia Houthi rebel group.

The envoy said he had met with group leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sanaa without providing any details about the meeting.

Griffiths also reportedly met with leaders of Yemen’s General People's Congress (GPC), which had been an ally of the Houthi group until the death of its leader -- former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh -- late last year.

“Not only did all parties show a strong desire for peace, but they also had concrete ideas as to how to achieve it,” Griffiths said.

“In this regard, I am particularly grateful to Abdul Malik al-Houthi for his support and the fruitful talks we engaged in,” he added.

On Thursday, Griffiths will brief the UN Security Council on his meetings in Sanaa and Aden (the latter of which currently serves as Yemen’s interim capital).

The envoy went on to say that he planned to meet Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi “soon”, without specifying the planned meeting’s venue.

Griffiths arrived in Sanaa on Monday for talks with Houthi and GPC leaders regarding recent military escalations in Yemen’s coastal city of Al-Hudaydah.

Last month, Griffiths made a similar trip to Yemen during which he met with Houthi leaders to discuss means of resolving the country’s four-year conflict.

Last week, Griffiths held talks in Aden with both President Hadi and Prime Minister Ahmed Ben Dagher.

The UN has recently stepped up efforts to offset the effects of an offensive launched last month by the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led military coalition aimed at wresting Al-Hudaydah from the Houthis.

On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- a leading coalition member -- said the offensive had been temporarily suspended to allow the Houthis to “unconditionally withdraw” from the strategic province.

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Shia Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies -- launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.