UN chief calls on Yemen rivals to avoid violence and renew truce
UN special envoy still in negotiations with government and Houthis
United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Yemen’s warring parties to refrain from any provocations that could escalate violence. The move follows the failure to extend a nationwide ceasefire and to engage with each other to renew the truce.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general is disappointed that the internationally recognised government and Houthi militia didn’t reach an agreement before the October 2 deadline. But he stressed: “We in no way see it as the end of the road.’’
The initial two-month truce agreed to on April 2 and extended twice brought the longest lull in fighting since the devastating civil war began in 2014. The failure to renew it for an even longer period as the UN sought has raised fears of renewed clashes and a worsening of the already dire humanitarian situation in the Arab world’s poorest country.
Dujarric said UN special envoy Hans Grundberg is still in negotiations with the government and the Houthis and will continue to explore ``options that are acceptable to both parties.’’
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital of Sana’a and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.
The conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Last Friday, Guterres urged both sides to prioritize the national interests of the Yemeni people, expand the truce and ``choose peace for good.’’ His statement followed a stark warning three days earlier from UN envoy Grundberg that the risk of a return to fighting “is real.’’
Dujarric, the UN spokesman, said there’s still time for the parties to “do what they need to do to benefit the people of Yemen.’’
“The truce has directly benefited Yemeni civilians,’’ he said. “Major military activity stopped, including Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and Houthi cross-border attacks. Civilian casualties have dropped significantly. Fuel imports through Hodeida ports eased shortages, and international commercial flights out of Sana’a airport to Amman and other destinations have resumed.’’