UN envoy to Yemen arrives in Sanaa to discuss Hudaydah

By Mohammed al-Samei

SANAA (AA) - UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths on Saturday arrived in the Yemeni capital Sanaa to discuss ways to implement the Stockholm agreement between Yemeni government and Houthi rebels.

An official source at Sanaa International Airport told Anadolu Agency that Griffiths arrived in Sanaa after visiting Jordanian capital Amman.

The source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Griffiths would hold meetings with officials in the Houthis-held Sanaa.

The source gave no further details on the purpose of Griffiths' visit.

The arrival of Griffiths came in the aftermath of the failure of the UN mission, tasked with monitoring a ceasefire in Yemen’s eastern city of Al-Hudaydah, to make any tangible progress.

Yemen's warring parties agreed earlier last month to withdraw their forces from the Red Sea port city and observe a ceasefire during UN-sponsored talks in Sweden's Stockholm.

The source said: "Griffiths is due to meet with the mission in order to make progress regarding Al-Hudaydah issue."

Late last month, the UN Security Council adopted a U.K.-sponsored resolution approving deployment of a UN team tasked with monitoring a ceasefire in Al-Hudaydah that went into effect in December.

Home to several strategic seaports, Al-Hudaydah constitutes a lifeline for Yemen's beleaguered civilian population, with significant amounts of humanitarian aid regularly flowing through the port city.

Impoverished Yemen has remained dogged by violence and strife since 2014, when the Houthi rebel group overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The following year, Saudi Arabia and several of its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains and shoring up its pro-Saudi government.

The campaign has devastated much of Yemen’s basic infrastructure, including health and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.