Sultanate plays key role in Yemen peace

Martin Griffiths, the Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General to Yemen, on Sunday affirmed the importance of Oman’s neighbourly relations with Yemen, saying they have a “long history of dialogue and openness”. Speaking at a press conference held at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry, he said Oman is a special neighbour of Yemen with a “history of dialogue to bring peace in the region”. He said his task was to “find a middle ground” between the parties in Yemen that satisfies all. Affirming his confidence in the Sultanate’s and Yemen’s neighbouring countries’ desire to “achieve immediate and not later peace”, Griffiths said the meetings of parties involved in the Yemeni crisis are “progressing well”. He said he will “present within 10 days his report to the UN, which will contain the outcome of communications and meetings”. During his interaction with Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, Griffiths hailed his meetings in the Sultanate. Expressing relief over the meetings held with the parties involved in the Yemeni crisis, he said, “The UN is devoting all efforts to achieving peace and is sparing no effort to settle the crisis as soon as possible.” “The mission assigned to me by the UN in my capacity as an envoy to Yemen is to reach an agreement between the conflicting parties in order to resolve the issue,” said Griffiths. “The final aim of this mission, which I view as both simple and complicated, represents the personal commitment of the UN Secretary-General to achieve peace in Yemen.” The UN special envoy said he listened to the Omani point of view during his two-day visit on finding a way out of the crisis as “Oman is an important neighbour of Yemen and is keen on its stability”. Stating that the UN Secretary General is committed to solving the conflict in Yemen, Griffiths said that he visited Yemen as the special commissioner to refugees and is interested in ensuring peace in the country. He noted that at the current stage, he is “listening to everyone” and visited Riyadh, Yemen and will return to Riyadh again. He said he felt a real desire to achieve peace and start political negotiations to stop war and put an end to the suffering of the Yemeni people. The UN, he said, believes that Yemeni people own the future of their state and that ‘Yemen First’ motto is the motto we believe in. He stressed the positive role of the neighbouring countries, describing it “very useful”. He said all the neighbouring countries of Yemen stress the importance of having an independent and prosperous Yemen that enjoys internal peace as well as peace with its neighbouring countries. Responding to a question on the role of UN in conflicts, he said the UN seeks to resolve disputes and establish peace at the earliest. (With ONA inputs)