File photo showing Houthi militia fighters attending a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, April 26, 2018. (AFP)
LONDON: The UN special envoy to Yemen has returned to the country armed with a new political settlement to end the ongoing war. Sources were quoted by Al Sharq Al-Awsat that Martin Griffith the UN special envoy to Yemen hopes to float a new-old blueprint to end the war by getting the parties to agree to a political settlement based on a transitional period to be followed by elections if both parties to the conflict agree to his plan. Griffith hopes to start political talks without addressing the armed groups and their weapons, in the hope of addressing this sensitive issue later. The proposed talks center around a negotiation process between a legitimate government and the proponent of the coup carried out by the Houthi militia backed by Iran in September 2015. Yemen’s foreign minister Andel Malek Al-Mekhlafi said that his government is willing to work with the Houthis in a unity government in a transitional phase, as long as weapons are decommissioned; “so that we don’t legitimize the coup and its gains,” Al-Mekhlafi said. While Yemen awaits practical steps to apply the UN special envoy’s vision, many experts in Yemen question the Houthi militia’s intent and commitment to any political settlement, with many believing that they will wait for orders from the Iranian government.
(c) 2018 Arab News
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