Yemen: UN Envoy to Yemen Stresses the Need to De-escalate Military Tensions

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

Arabian Sea - Yemen - Follow-ups: The UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, called on the Yemeni parties to take urgent steps to de-escalate military action and build confidence, warning that unilateral and escalatory decisions threaten to increase divisions between state institutions and complicate peace efforts. In his briefing to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Grundberg expressed concern about the renewed fighting on the Al-Alb front in Saada Governorate on July 25, which resulted in a large number of dead and wounded on both sides, in addition to military reinforcements for the Houthis near the city of Hodeidah, stressing that these developments require activating the role of the Military Coordination Committee sponsored by the United Nations to pave the way for a comprehensive ceasefire. The UN envoy stressed the importance of adhering to the roadmap reached in December 2023, and intensifying confidence-building measures, including opening roads and improving movement and trade between governorates. He praised the progress made in opening the road linking Al-Bayda and Abyan, calling for accelerating the opening of more vital roads. On the economic front, Grundberg praised the recent measures taken by the Central Bank and the government in Aden to address the decline of the currency and achieve a marked improvement in the exchange rate, noting its importance in stabilizing the prices of basic commodities. He criticized, in contrast, the Houthi decisions to issue new metal and paper currencies, considering that they exacerbate the fragmentation of the economy and hinder efforts to unify financial institutions. He also stressed the need to involve Yemeni youth in the political process, warning that the economic deterioration is pushing more of them towards the battlefronts, and stressing that their role is pivotal in any future peace process. In his briefing, Grundberg touched on regional issues, warning that the continued attacks on ships in the Red Sea, and the escalation related to the war in Gaza, have destroyed the infrastructure of the western coast ports and slowed down the unloading of food commodities, as in the port of Salif, where unloading last month took three times the usual time. At the end of his speech, the UN envoy renewed his call for the immediate and unconditional release of 23 UN employees and others from local and international organizations and diplomatic missions who are still detained, stressing that their conditions are "desperate" and that their continued detention is unacceptable.