There seems to be a crisis between UN envoy Martin Griffiths and the legitimate government of Yemen, with many commentators feeling that Griffiths is not being tough enough with the Houthi rebels. This has lost him the respect of many Yemenis, commentators say, who are disappointed that Griffiths is not doing more to end the civil conflict in their country. Recent tweets by the British ambassador to Yemen have also made many Yemenis feel that international diplomats do not care about the rights of the Yemeni people. The ambassador later apologised for his tweets. Such concerns have escalated into demands that Griffiths be replaced as tensions continue to escalate between the two sides. Meanwhile, the Houthis have ransacked property belonging to Minister of Information Muammar Al-Aryani and his deputy Najib Ghalab. The legitimate government has been committed to cooperating with Griffiths, but now it seems that it has refused to deal with the UN envoy. Correspondent for the Al-Arabiya news channel Talal Al-Haj said the government was refusing to deal with Griffiths and wanted guarantees that he would not repeat his mistakes with regard to the Houthis. One Yemeni source said Griffiths would not be able to continue without first rebuilding bridges with the legitimate government. Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday that Griffiths could not continue to violate the terms of his mandate from the UN Security Council and UN Security Council Resolutions 216, 2451 and 2452. A senior Yemeni source said a meeting would take place between Hadi and Guterres or his representative after the Eid holiday. The official said that dealing with the issue of Griffiths would be postponed until this meeting takes place, with Guterres defending Griffiths on Saturday by saying the UN was a “neutral mediator in an unstable Arab country” and that he had taken into serious consideration “the concerns of the legitimate government”. “The UN is committed to providing unbiased mediation, and it places its trust in the peace process,” he said. Hadi had accused Griffiths of “legitimising the coup militias” and allowing them to remain in the port of Hodeida in contradiction to the UN-sponsored deal reached in December in Sweden. On 14 May, the UN announced the Houthi militias had withdrawn from the ports of Hodeida, Al-Saleef and Ras Eissa, but this was described as “another ruse” by Hadi. The Yemeni people are close to despair as they watch their children dying of hunger and disease as the world looks on. UN Goodwill Ambassador Hanaa Al-Adimi, a Yemeni diplomat on the UN Human Rights Council, told television channel Al-Yaman Al-Youm that she “hopes that political leaders around the world will work to end the war soon. If not, it will not only harm Yemenis and Yemen, but perhaps the entire world,” she said. Taiz, for example, is one city in Yemen that is suffering from the effects of the civil conflict, including through a water crisis that is putting the lives of residents at risk. For four years there have been water shortages in Taiz due to a siege imposed by the Houthi militias. Local people form long lines for water from international relief agencies, and according to witnesses the price of one 3,000 litre cistern is now more than 20,000 Yemeni riyals instead of the previous price of less than 6,000. The Yemeni Marb media outlet has reported that 500,000 people are now living under siege since the Houthis surrounded the city from three sides, including Juban where the water wells are located. Governor Nabil Shamsan, a former minister of the civil service, has led a campaign against the Houthi militias in the province, and on Saturday the army announced it had killed more than 13 fighters during battles in Taiz 275 km south of the capital Sanaa. The operation has now spread and impacted areas south of Taiz. The Website Tahdith has reported that violent battles broke out on several fronts in the Dhale province, indicating that southern resistance forces are advancing to take control of the straits north of the Qaataba province. In cooperation with the security forces they will likely then begin a new phase of advancing towards areas near Ibb and into the port of Hodeida on the Red Sea. Liberating the Dhale province should make it easy to liberate districts in the Ibb province and interrupt supply lines to Taiz. Arab Coalition forces have been holding the international community accountable as they forge ahead in Dhale and Taiz. The coalition has liberated key locations in Shakhb in the northern Dhale province after fierce battles with the Houthis, and it has attacked Houthi locations on the northern front in Taiz and in the south. Saudi Arabia has urged the international community to shoulder its responsibility and take a firm position against the Houthi militias. These, meanwhile, have been digging trenches and planting landmines. The Yemeni Khabar news agency has reported that the Iranian-backed Houthis are continuing to dig trenches and tunnels and plant boobytraps and bombs in Hodeida. This threatens the lives of civilians and is evidence that the militias want to decimate the Sweden deal. One source in the national resistance said that Republican Guard reconnaissance agents had documented Houthi bulldozers digging tunnels and trenches behind the coast guard base in Hodeida on Sunday. On Monday, the UN appeared to be courting the legitimate government in Yemen and Guterres described Hadi as “transparent and honest”. The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat said that “Guterres's description of Hadi is obvious courting of the legitimate government after a response to accusations against Griffiths.” Griffiths is expected in Riyadh soon to meet with Hadi around the time of the Mecca summit at the end of May, according to a report on the Baraqish Website quoting a senior political source. It is to be hoped that the UN and the international community can soon resolve the Yemeni crisis. This is particularly the case since further instability in Yemen will likely spiral to cause further instability in the region as a whole.
