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Egypt Independent
“It would be futile to hold talks with the United Nations’ new special envoy for Yemen without an agreement on the group’s key conditions under the stalled peace efforts”, said Houthi’s spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam, on Sunday.
The appointment of Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg, on Friday, as the new UN envoy to Yemen, came as the UN and the United States struggle to secure a breakthrough to end more than six years of war between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s recognised government.
A UN-led initiative for a ceasefire and the lifting of sea and air blockade imposed by the coalition on Houthi-held areas has stalled, with the coalition seeking simultaneous deal and the Houthis insisting on an end to the blockade as a first step.
“There is no use in having any dialogue before airports and ports are opened as a humanitarian necessity and priority”, Abdulsalam, tweeted in response to Grundberg’s appointment.
When contacted by Reuters, Abdulsalam said in a text message, “a meeting would be pointless as Grundberg has nothing in hand”. He noted that there was no progress following last month’s visit to Riyadh by the US envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking.
Lenderking’s latest trip to the region came as ground battles spread beyond Yemen’s gas-rich region, Marib, the government’s last Northern stronghold, which the Houthis are trying to seize.
The conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed tens of thousands and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015, after the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa. The war has been in military stalemate for years with the militia controlling most big urban centres in the North of the country. The Houthis claim they are “fighting a corrupt system and a foreign aggression”.
