UN Security Council member-states said on Thursday that UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths had made “an advancement, even if slow, concerning a solution to the Hodeidah crisis.
The sources said Griffiths uncovered his intention to get a “written agreement” from militias’ leader Abdel Malek Al-Houthi, who had verbally accepted to withdraw his militants from the city harbor and to place it under the supervisor of an international organization.
The UN envoy also informed the Security Council about his intention to hold talks with President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Arab Coalition leaderships in Aden to continue efforts related to the resumption of
the political operation between the warring Yemeni parties.
On Thursday, Griffiths briefed the UN Security Council by video behind closed doors about the outcomes of talks he conducted in Sana’a and Aden.
Diplomats told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the meeting’s atmosphere was positive,” adding that Houthis had accepted to hand over the Hodeidah harbor to the UN.
Another diplomat said that the mechanism for implementing such results were not set yet.
“There are other details still not settled, including how the legitimacy would restore its authority across the entire country,” the diplomat said.
Griffiths also informed the UN Security Council on Thursday about his plans to hold talks with President Hadi and Coalition leaderships soon and that he aims to place the outcome of his talks with both sides on
papers, particularly Al-Houthi’s promises to place Hodeidah’s harbor under a UN-supervision team. However, the diplomats noticed the presence of one pending obstacle related to the revenues of the harbor, after being handed over to the UN.
“One proposal suggested that those revenues be placed at the Central Bank branch in Hodeidah to pay the salaries of civil servants, the diplomats said.
