The road to peace in Yemen has begun despite the fact that the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, had failed to arrive in Geneva for consultations, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said at a press briefing on Saturday
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2018) The road to peace in Yemen has begun despite the fact that the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, had failed to arrive in Geneva for consultations, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said at a press briefing on Saturday.
The UN-mediated Geneva talks on Yemen between the Houthis and the Yemeni government were to start on Thursday. However, the Ansar Allah representatives failed to show up at the talks, claiming that the Saudi-led opposition which controls the Yemeni air space, did not allow them to leave and return peacefully. According to the opposition, Houthis were greenlighted to leave on time, but did not use the opportunity.
"The important aspect of the last few days is that we have started consultations. The process of beginning the road back to peace has started, not quite as we wanted, but it has begun," Griffiths said.
According to the envoy, the United Nations would still have consultations with Ansar Allah.
"We will go and we will discuss with them the fruits of what we have discussed here," Griffiths said, adding that he would be visiting Muscat for talks with the Houthis.
Yemen is engulfed in an armed conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi movement. The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.
