SANA’A (Dispatches) – Yemen’s chief negotiator said on Sunday it would be futile to hold talks with the United Nations new special envoy for Yemen without movement on the its key conditions under stalled so-called peace efforts.
The appointment of Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg on Friday as the new UN envoy comes as the United Nations struggle to secure a breakthrough to end more than six years of Saudi-led war in its impoverished neighbor.
A UN-led initiative for a ceasefire and the lifting of sea and air restrictions imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen has stalled.
“There is no use in having any dialogue before airports and ports are opened as a humanitarian necessity and priority,” Yemeni negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam, who is based in Oman, 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 his hands” and that there was no progress following last month’s visit to Riyadh by the U.S. envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the U.S. and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah resistance movement.
Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees have, however, gone from strength to strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
The foreign minister of Yemen’s National Salvation Government says it is time for Saudi Arabia to put an end to intervention in its southern neighbor’s internal affairs, and stop attempts to undermine the Arab nation’s independence.
“The peace that the Sana’a government is trying to achieve is real, just and sustainable, and serves the entire Yemeni nation. It falls within the framework of Yemen’s national sovereignty, and secures withdrawal of foreign forces from Yemeni soil. It also preserves Yemen’s independence and territorial integrity,” Hisham Sharaf Abdullah told Yemen’s official Saba news agency in an exclusive interview on Saturday.
He said Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud should not try to suggest as if Riyadh had the upper hand following the appointment of Grundberg.
“He (Saudi foreign minister) must realize that it is the Yemeni people’s duty to establish peace across the nation, and help establish security and stability, besides restoring the national government’s sovereignty to impose law and order, achieve justice and prosperity for the entire nation, and alleviate their sufferings after seven years of aggression,” Sharaf Abdullah said.