UN Envoy in Sanaa to Persuade Houthis on Ending Taiz Siege

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA
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UN Envoy in Sanaa to Persuade Houthis on Ending Taiz Siege

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (3rd R) arrives in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, EPA

UN Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg arrived on Wednesday in Sanaa to convince Houthi leaders of his proposal to lift the siege on Taiz and open some roads between the governorates.

Earlier, Yemeni government officials and Houthi putschists tried to resolve the Taiz file in two rounds of talks in the Jordanian capital, Amman, yet with no avail.

Fears are growing that Houthi intransigence in this file will lead to torpedoing the existing UN-sponsored truce that was extended to August 2.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on Wednesday threatened during his meeting with coup loyalists from Taiz to resume fighting to control the liberated areas under the control of the Yemeni government.

For his part, Grundberg said he would meet the rebel leadership to discuss proposals for reopening roads into Taiz, Yemen’s third biggest city which has been largely cut off since 2015.

“I hope we will have constructive discussions on our proposal for reopening roads in Taiz and other governorates, as well as economic and humanitarian measures and the way forward,” said Grundberg upon arriving in Sanaa.

“Yemenis have seen the truce’s tangible benefits. We have witnessed a significant positive shift and we have a responsibility to safeguard it and deliver on its potential for peace in Yemen,” he told reporters.

Holding talks on Taiz was one of the terms of the truce, along with resuming commercial flights out of Sana’a and allowing fuel ships into the lifeline port of Hodeida, which is also in Houthi hands.

Grundberg hailed the truce extension, calling it a “positive signal of the parties’ seriousness to uphold and implement the truce.”

Taiz has been under siege since the civil war erupted in Yemen in late 2014. Lifting the blockade would facilitate the movement of citizens and their access to humanitarian aid.

Residents in Taiz have staged repeated protest rallies to demand the acceleration of lifting the siege and clearing landmines on the main roads around the city.

Ending the Taiz siege is the last major term to be fulfilled under the agreement reached by the country's warring parties as part of their truce that came into force in April.



Türkiye Resolves Residency Dispute of Exiled Brotherhood Judge Sharaby

Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)
Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)
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Türkiye Resolves Residency Dispute of Exiled Brotherhood Judge Sharaby

Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)
Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)

An exiled Egyptian judge affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood said he ended an open-ended hunger strike after Turkish authorities intervened to resolve his residency status, following a public plea to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Waleed Sharaby, who fled to Türkiye in 2016 after being sentenced in Egypt, announced on Facebook late Thursday that he was halting his protest, which began outside a police station where he had been staging a sit-in.

He said the hunger strike was in response to Turkish authorities preventing him from leaving the country and refusing to renew his residency for nearly two years.

Sharaby claimed Turkish security services had acted on pressure from Egypt’s intelligence services, prompting him to appeal directly to Erdogan. He did not provide evidence for the alleged interference.

Moreover, Sharaby said he ended a two-day hunger strike and sit-in protest in Türkiye after receiving a call from a senior Turkish official who pledged to resolve his legal and residency issues.

Sharaby wrote on Facebook that he returned home and resumed eating on Thursday after the official, whose identity he did not disclose, invited him to a meeting and assured him that part of the issue would be resolved soon. “We may succeed in fully resolving the matter following this initial step,” he said.

Sharaby, who fled Egypt in 2016 after court rulings against him, began his hunger strike on Wednesday outside a police station in protest over what he described as Turkish authorities’ refusal to renew his residency for nearly two years and a travel ban that prevented him from leaving the country.

According to sources, Turkish authorities briefly detained him on Wednesday while attempting to depart the country, citing alleged financial violations involving Turkish citizens. He was held for a day before being released, after which he launched his protest.

During his sit-in, Sharaby publicly appealed to Erdogan via Facebook, asking for a personal meeting or for the issue to be referred to the appropriate authorities.

He claimed he had been subjected to “severe harassment” and travel restrictions, including pressure on a business he owns in Türkiye and a ban on leaving the country to seek asylum, reportedly in a European state, where his wife and children relocated nearly two years ago.

Turkish authorities have not publicly commented on the case. Türkiye has hosted several exiled members of the Muslim Brotherhood following the group's ouster from power in Egypt in 2013, though Ankara has since moved to restore ties with Cairo.

Sources close to Sharaby said Turkish authorities have agreed to grant him humanitarian residency, allowing him to remain in the country permanently despite the expiry of his Egyptian passport.

The move aligns with similar measures taken for other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government.