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UN Envoy urges Yemen rivals to take 'bold steps' to end conflict

May 3, 2023 at 5:05 pm

UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg meets with local officials in Taiz, Yemen on November 8, 2021 [Abdulnasser Alseddik/Anadolu Agency]

The UN Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, on Wednesday, called on the country’s warring rivals to take “bold steps” to end the conflict, Anadolu News Agency reports.

“After a year of unprecedented calm in Yemen, the parties need to take the next bold steps toward ending the conflict,” Grundberg said in statements at the conclusion of a two-day visit to the capital, Sana’a.

Grundberg said he made “positive engagements with the authorities in Sana’a” during his visit.

“I am encouraged by what I’ve heard and indeed by the constructive engagement by all sides at this critical time,” he added.

The UN Envoy is scheduled to fly to Aden later Wednesday for talks with the Yemeni government before holding discussions with Saudi and Omani officials.

Last month, the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels completed the exchange of nearly 900 prisoners.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sana’a.

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