EU urges Yemen’s rebels to engage 'constructively' with UN peace efforts

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – The European Union has called on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to engage constructively with UN efforts to address the crisis in the war-torn country.

"The EU urges the Houthis to abandon maximalist positions and engage constructively with the UNSE (United Nations Special Envoy)," the EU Council said in a statement published by the French Embassy in Yemen.

The UN has appointed Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as its special envoy to bring peace in Yemen.

The statement affirmed the EU's "principled commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen, and its full support to the UN peace efforts" and Grundberg’s mediation efforts.

It also underlined "the utmost importance of reinstating and further extending the truce."

Yemen’s warring rivals failed to extend a UN-mediated truce after it expired on Oct. 2 amid accusations between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels of launching attacks against each other.

Yemen’s civil war began in September 2014 when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the war in early 2015 to restore the government to power.

The eight-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions risking starvation.

Writing by Ahmed Asmar