The United Nations can start preparing for the next round of consultations between the Yemeni government and the Houthis movement by working on specific measures on the Yemeni conflict settlement, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said at a press briefing on Saturday.
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2018) The United Nations can start preparing for the next round of consultations between the Yemeni government and the Houthis movement by working on specific measures on the Yemeni conflict settlement, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said at a press briefing on Saturday.
The UN-mediated Geneva consultations on Yemen between the Houthis and the Yemeni government were to start on Thursday. However, the Houthis 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.
"We need to start preparing for the next round of consultations. ... We need to get prisoners released, we need to get Sanaa airport open, we need to get humanitarian access open in Taiz," Griffiths said.
The envoy added that the timing for the next round of the Yemeni consultations in Geneva would be planned after talks with the Houthi delegation in Muscat.
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.
