UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2019) Yemen's acting Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hadhrami told Sputnik on Tuesday that he would meet with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths on the margins of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly the following day.
"Yes, I will [meet with Griffiths] tomorrow," al-Hadhrami said on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
When asked about his assessment of Griffiths' work, al-Hadhrami said, "He's got our full support."
Al-Hadhrami explained that the port city of Al-Hudaydah has been a problem for ten months given the intransigence of the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"We regret that it is a problem for ten months and we know that it is because of the intransigence of the Houthis," he said. "We want Martin Griffiths to be more specific in terms of pointing fingers to those who are obstructing progress instead of just blaming everyone or thanking everyone."
Al-Hadhrami also said Yemen's leadership is aware of Griffith's experience and values his tactics.
"We have full faith in Martin Griffiths," he said. "We just want to push the data more, we don't want to leave the data as a failed attempt on Al-Hudaydah and then move forward to other negotiations."
Al-Hadhrami also said the Yemeni people owe it to the United Nations and everyone who was in Sweden to give Griffiths' data "everything we can," give it proper focus and not give up.
"Let's just keep pounding until we get a resolution," al-Hadhrami said.
Griffiths said earlier in the month that he will increase his engagement with all stakeholders in Yemen during the next several weeks in order to end the conflict in the country.
Griffiths explained that he intends to launch what he said will be informal and structured discussions with representatives of Yemen's political parties and public figures, including women, to address critical political and security measures that are important to reaching a comprehensive peace deal.
Yemen has for years been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces, led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, and the rebel Houthi movement. Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out military operations against the Houthis at Hadi's request.
Last December, the warring parties attended United Nations-brokered peace talks in Stockholm, Sweden, and concluded a ceasefire agreement for the port city of Al Hudaydah.
