(AhlulBayt News Agency) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that the resumption of negotiations is a top priority for all the parties involved in Yemen's conflict and that the UN will continue to contribute to the political process to help end the war.
Guterres, who was visiting Saudi Arabia, made the remarks at a joint news conference along with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.
"Whatever we can do to make resurrection of the need for people to be able to negotiate, to be able to come to a solution for the Yemeni people is something that we will always be available to contribute to," the UN chief said.
Guterres also appealed to the combatants in Yemen's almost two-year-old war to ensure the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, adding that any act of exploiting aid deliveries would be condemned.
"Humanitarian aid is for those that really need it, and so we are very keen in always appealing to all parties to any conflict not to use humanitarian aid for purposes that are not humanitarian, and we will always condemn any form of intervention that will lead for that deviation to take place," he said.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who has served as the UN envoy for Yemen since April 2015, has brokered several ceasefires in a conflict that has killed thousands of people.
The Houthi movement has been running Yemen’s affairs since late 2014, when Hadi resigned and fled to Riyadh. The former president is now based in Aden, but spends most of his time in the Saudi capital.
In January, the UN envoy told the UN Security Council that Hadi “continues to criticize” the peace proposals without agreeing to discuss them, adding that such an approach “will hinder and impede the path towards peace.”
The Houthi Ansarullah movement is also critical of Cheikh Ahmed’s role, saying the UN official fails to speak the truth about the situation on the ground in Yemen, and that he is siding with the invaders by keeping silent on Saudi crimes.
However, the UN chief on Sunday voiced his full support for Cheikh Ahmed during the news conference in Riyadh.
/257
13 February 2017 - 13:08
News ID: 811430
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that the resumption of negotiations is a top priority for all the parties involved in Yemen's conflict and that the UN will continue to contribute to the political process to help end the war.
