UN Special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths has stressed the independence of the General People’s Congress delegation that would take part in peace talks he plans to launch amid a GPC leadership frustration in Sana’a for being forced to follow the Houthi project.
Griffiths’ position came during a meeting with leading officials from the GPC, headed by Sultan al-Burkani, as part of the UN envoy’s second regional tour aimed at reviving stalled talks between Yemen's warring rivals.
A party official and former Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi tweeted earlier that the GPC has regained the confidence of regional states and the international community and will start confronting any attempts to divide the party or to control its decision-making.
Sources close to the GPC told Asharq Al-Awsat that Griffiths discussed with Burkani and other officials a political solution in Yemen and the role of the GPC in peacemaking.
The sources said the UN envoy asserted the Congress would have an important role in the Yemeni peace process.
He stressed the importance of having a unified and independent GPC delegation at the upcoming peace talks.
The envoy’s comments came in light of a Houthi hegemony on the decision-making of some GPC members in Sana’a. Houthis are also trying to force some party members to adopt the rebels’ rhetoric during the upcoming peace talks.
The sources said the meeting between GPC party members and Griffiths on Sunday, stressed the importance of implementing UN resolutions and safeguarding Yemen’s unity, security and stability.
As part of his second regional tour, the UN envoy had met in Muscat a Houthi spokesperson and other Yemeni officials before returning to Riyadh.
Griffiths failed for the second time to arrange a new visit to the Yemeni capital last week, after postponing his first trip due to Houthi intransigence following the killing of Saleh al-Sammad, the head of the so-called Houthi Supreme Political Council.
