UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday named Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as his new Yemen envoy after a delay of several weeks as China considered whether to approve the appointment, which needed consensus Security Council agreement.
The 15-member council approved Grundberg this week as a replacement for Martin Griffiths, who became the UN aid chief last month after trying to mediate an end to the conflict in Yemen for the past three years.
Grundberg has been the European Union ambassador to Yemen since September 2019. UN officials informally floated his name to council members to solicit views by mid-July and 14 members said they would agree to the appointment, diplomats said.
With the appointment of a new envoy, observers have started to wonder whether peace initiatives would succeed in bringing an end to the conflict. The latest such initiative was proposed by Saudi Arabia and backed by the UN earlier this year.
All peace proposals have so far been met with the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ intransigence. The terrorist militias have opted to forge ahead with military operations in the hopes of making gains on the ground, however, all of their efforts have failed.
Head of the Gulf Research Center, Dr. Abdulaziz Sager said the options for tackling the conflict are either the continuation of the fighting or the issuing of new UN Security Council resolutions that would pressure the Houthis or for the militias to agree to join the legitimate government at the negotiations table.
The fourth option, Sager told Asharq Al-Awsat, lies in the Saudi-led Arab coalition withdrawing from Yemen and leaving it to the Yemenis to determine the fate of their country.
He acknowledged that such a choice would mean the intervention of several countries in Yemen and the consequent deterioration of the humanitarian situation and increased threats to maritime navigation.
China can play a positive role in Yemen due to its good ties with Iran and its recognition of the legitimate government, he remarked.
“China opposes support to any separatist groups and its mediation between Iran, the legitimate government and Arab coalition could yield positive results if it is allowed to go ahead,” he went on to say.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan had earlier this week said the Houthis prefer to pursue the military option in Yemen because they want to achieve military superiority on the ground.
Saudi Arabia has been urging the need for them to agree to dialogue and to be part of Yemen’s future, he added.
