Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, received UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, in Aden to discuss efforts to resume the country’s political process for ending the long-running civil conflict.
The meeting, which was also attended by Yemen’s newly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, focused on the outcome of Grundberg’s recent regional talks and coordinated endeavours with allies aimed at resuming the inclusive UN-led political negotiations to end the war in Yemen, the state-run Saba News agency reported on Saturday.
Al-Alimi highlighted “the importance of the UN mediator prioritising concrete actions, not just words, from the Houthis and their Iranian backers to demonstrate serious commitment to peace efforts”.
These include “ending the Houthi siege on Taiz, removing impediments to the flow of funds, goods, and civil servant salaries, halting military escalation and attacks on civilian sites, and stopping human rights violations across Yemen,” according to the report.
The Yemeni government also expressed readiness to provide all facilities to assist the UN envoy in fulfilling his mandated responsibilities under international resolutions to end Yemeni suffering and restore legitimate governing institutions, it added as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
Commenting on his meeting with Al-Alimi, the UN envoy said in a brief press statement that he personally “explored ways to de-escalate tensions, prevent a relapse into violence in Yemen, and continue progress toward a nationwide ceasefire and the resumption of a political process under UN auspices”.
Grundberg has been actively engaging with regional stakeholders to create conditions conducive to restarting the stalled peace dialogue in Yemen.
Yemen has been mired in a bloody conflict since the Iran-backed Houthi group ousted the internationally recognised Yemeni government from the capital Sanaa in 2014. While the Yemeni government and the Houthis have participated in several rounds of UN-brokered peace talks, a long-term solution remains elusive.
