UN envoy arrives in Aden to persuade pro-coalition gov’t to change its position on road-opening talks

UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, arrived in Aden province on Sunday on a surprise visit to meet with the leadership of the Riyadh-backed Presidential Council and officials in the government loyal to the Saudi-led coalition.

Informed sources in the city of Aden said that Grundberg’s visit comes with the aim of persuading the pro-coalition government to change their intransigent positions regarding the road-opening negotiations in Yemen.

The UN envoy had announced in a statement Saturday that Jordan’s negotiations aimed at opening roads in Yemen had concluded the first round with an agreement in principle, calling on the parties to continue negotiations seeking to open roads in Yemen.

The negotiating delegation loyal to the coalition refuses to deal with any proposals to open closed roads and relieve citizens throughout Yemen, by reducing negotiations to include specific areas of the country.

Despite the concessions revealed by the Deputy Foreign Minister in the Sanaa government, Hussein Al-Ezzi, to open the roads in Taiz, the other side began to deal with the negotiations in terms of war tactics, which prompted the UN envoy to pay surprise visit to Aden, in the hope of changing the positions of the coalition forces.

YPA