Yemeni Government Ask UN Envoy To Stop Negotiating Peace With Houthis
-
Roshan Amiri
- . June 25, 2022
- . Update: June 26, 2022 4:22 pm
yemen–Houthis have not taken the proposal of retracting from Taiz seriously, and this has left the Yemeni government a little too irritated. They are now seeking mediation from the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg to denounce the Iran-backed Houthis for rejecting such proposals that would have heled to end the siege of Taiz and threatening to undermine the UN-brokered truce.
The siege in the city started in 2015 and has continued ever since. Grundberg had proposed the opening of a main road and four secondary roads around the city in Amman, during the latest round of talks on Taiz between the government and the Houthis. Both sides had been consulted. While the Houthis did not react immediately, the Yemeni government had heard the proposal and responded in somewhat positivity.
Beginning of this week, the Houthis officially rejected Grundberg’s proposal on Taiz on Thursday, proposing as an alternative the “immediate opening” of two of the city’s access roads, one linking Taiz to Sanaa via Aber, Al-Saremen, Al-Demenah and Al-Houban, and the second connecting Taiz to Aden through Al-Sharejah (Lahj), Karesh and Al-Rahedah.
Related Posts
A statement was released by a Yemeni military officer to the media, who said that those roads were described by the government delegation as “unpaved, long, and going through flood courses.” The first road, they said, is “small and rough” and only viable for off-road vehicles, while the second road runs through Houthi-controlled areas.
“For us, the (siege) is better than accepting the Houthi’s proposal. The road is one-way and dusty and would not alleviate the suffering of the people of Taiz. They should open the wide road between Taiz and Al-Houban,” Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni military officer in Taiz has said.
Both sides are not willing to come on a level playing ground. The Yemeni government now wants that Grundberg does not show leniency with Houthis anymore, as this tends to make the former look weak in front of the Iran backed militia party.
