Yemen's deputy foreign minister, Mohammad al-Hadrami, stressed the need to relocate all United Nations offices from Houthi-held areas to Yemen’s temporary capital of Aden, where the legitimate government is established, in order to avoid coming under pressure by the militias.
Hadrami made his remarks during a meeting with UN official, Marwan Ali, and in line with the government's unwavering policy to support peacemaking efforts exerted by the international body.
He also stressed the need for the United Nations to play its role in implementing international resolutions, and exposing all parties working to impede the progress of the UN-brokered Stockholm Agreement signed between Yemen’s warring sides last December.
According to the state news agency Saba, Hadrami discussed with Ali procedures designed to facilitate the work of the Office of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen in Aden and ongoing developments in the Yemeni peace process, including the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement.
Hadrami said that the presence of UN bureaus in Aden is important, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is willing to ease transition and field work conduct, stressing the long-vowed government efforts to cooperate with peacemaking efforts and facilitate the work of UN offices.
He explained that the insurgents failing to cooperate on the prisoners’ swap, a condition listed within the Stockholm Agreement, calls for serious pressure to be exerted by the international community to solicit compliance from Houthis.
The Iran-backed militias, according to Hadrami, dodged, violated and renegotiated the UN-sponsored agreement every chance they got. In light of such intransigence, Hadrami, along with many Yemeni officials, believe that Houthis are not serious about establishing peace.
As for moving UN offices to government-controlled areas, the Yemeni official cited a statement by the body’s World Food Program (WFP) acknowledging that most humanitarian assistance deployed in Houthi-dominated areas fails to make its way to the poor and needy due to unconstrained and bureaucratic corruption plaguing the insurgents.
