https://arab.news/gv7sg
- Grundberg鈥檚 office said his visit would also 鈥渟upport the release of the arbitrarily detained UN, NGO, civil society and diplomatic mission personnel鈥�
SANAA: Hans Grundberg, the United Nation鈥檚 special envoy for war-torn Yemen, arrived Monday in the rebel-held capital in a bid to breathe life into peace talks, his office said.
Grundberg last visited the capital Sanaa, controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis, in May 2023 for meetings with the rebels鈥� leaders in an earlier effort to advance a roadmap for peace.
The envoy鈥檚 current visit 鈥渋s part of his ongoing efforts to urge for concrete and essential actions... for advancing the peace process,鈥� Grundberg鈥檚 office said in a statement.
Yemen has been at war since 2014, when the Houthis forced the internationally recognized government out of Sanaa. The rebels have also seized population centers in the north.
A UN-brokered ceasefire in April 2022 calmed fighting and in December 2023 the warring parties committed to a peace process.
But tensions have surged during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, as the Houthis struck Israeli targets and international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in a campaign the rebels say is in solidarity with Palestinians.
In response to the Houthi attacks, Israel as well as the United States and Britain have hit Houthi targets in Yemen over the past year. One Israeli raid hit Sanaa鈥檚 international airport.
Grundberg鈥檚 office said his visit would also 鈥渟upport the release of the arbitrarily detained UN, NGO, civil society and diplomatic mission personnel.鈥�
Dozens of staff from UN and other humanitarian organizations have been detained by the rebels, most of them since June, with the Houthis accusing them of belonging to a 鈥淯S-Israeli spy network,鈥� a charge the United Nations denies.