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Houthi leader meets UN Special Envoy

October 29, 2019 at 2:30 pm

Leader of the Houthi armed group, Sayyid Abdul Malik Al-Houthi [RuneAgerhus/Wikipedia]

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement, Sayyid Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, met with UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths yesterday in the capital Sanaa. Al-Houthi told the UN official that the military option and the ongoing blockade would bring peace neither to Yemen nor the region.

“It is important to stop the aggression in a comprehensive manner, end the siege completely and conduct urgent humanitarian treatments at various levels,” he insisted.

The Houthi leader also reminded Griffiths of several initiatives under which hundreds of prisoners were released with the aim of making some progress leading to the release of all detainees and prisoners. He laid the blame for obstructing these initiatives on Saudi Arabia.

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Griffiths, who tweeted favourably about the meeting, is in Sanaa to work on the implementation of the Stockholm agreement. He also met with the President of the Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, and other members to discuss the siege, as well as the continued closure of Sanaa International Airport, which is a vital hub for much-needed humanitarian aid.

In spite of the Houthis halting retaliatory missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabian territory since last month, the Saudi Royal Air Force continues to carry out air raids across a number of Yemeni governorates. These include the Houthi stronghold of Saada and the besieged port city of Hudaydah, where a number of civilians have been killed in the attacks.

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