The new UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, begins his work on Sunday with few choices and possible Houthi escalation, according to Yemeni observers who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.
The Swedish diplomat is expected to break a period of stagnation that has dominated the Yemeni scene since his predecessor, Martin Griffiths, left for the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Agency in New York.
The director of Communications in the Office of the UN Envoy for Yemen told Asharq Al-Awsat that the envoy would submit a briefing to the Security Council on Sept. 10.
Meanwhile, as Saudi Arabia took an initiative to support the international momentum to end the crisis, the Houthi militias intensified their attacks against Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles, targeting Marib without achieving any result on the ground over the past eight months.
The Saudi initiative to resolve the Yemeni crisis includes “a comprehensive ceasefire under the supervision of the United Nations, the deposit of taxes and customs revenues for oil derivatives ships from the port of Hodeidah in the joint account of the Central Bank of Yemen in Hodeidah, according to the Stockholm Agreement on Hodeidah, and the opening of Sanaa International Airport for a number of direct regional and international flights.”
It also provides for the start of consultations between the Yemeni parties to reach a political solution to the crisis under the UN auspices, based on the terms of reference of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, the Gulf initiative and its implementation mechanism, and the outcomes of the comprehensive Yemeni national dialogue.
While Najib Ghallab, the undersecretary of the Yemeni Ministry of Information, called for more pressure on the Houthis, Majed Al-Madhaji, executive director of the Sanaa Center for Studies, believes that the settlement path was far, based on the current data.
Ghallab believes that the envoy should work on previous efforts, while studying reality and its transformations within the framework of new contexts and the existing international consensus.
“There are weaknesses in the peace track in Yemen, as the Houthis are exploiting efforts to sustain the war. Therefore, real and tangible pressure from the United Nations is required, and most importantly, the international community’s ability to support the new envoy with a coherent plan,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Al-Madhaji, for his part, said: “The scene has little political hopes at the moment, and therefore the envoy will come up with few options. He will turn to an attempt to re-design his vision, in parallel with an effort to activate partial solutions in the humanitarian file… until a surprise at the political or military level.”
