Griffiths welcomes the Houthi initiative and urging Saudi Arabia to "take the opportunity"
English - Sunday 22 September 2019 الساعة 04:56 pm
Aden – NewsYemen.net
The United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, is applauding what he called the "initiative" announced by the Houthi rebels on Friday (September 20th) to stop attacks on Saudi Arabia, stressing the "importance of taking advantage of this opportunity" to curb violence and military escalation.
"The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, welcomes the initiative announced by Ansar Allah on 20 September to halt military hostilities against Saudi Arabia," according to office statement on Saturday.
The Houthi militia, the Iranian arm in Yemen, announced on Friday what it called "an initiative to stop attacks on Saudi Arabia," in a move that reflected an Iranian attempt to shuffle the cards following the recent attacks on Aramco facilities.
Houthi militias have vowed to step up attacks more painfully "if the initiative is rejected".
While Saudi Arabia said in its first comment on Saturday, "we judge deeds, not words," in the words of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir, who renewed the accusation that Iran is responsible for the attacks on the Aramco facilities adopted by the Houthis, urged Griffith to use them as "Chance".
Martin Griffiths, who apparently bypassed the Houthi adoption of "bad enough" unprecedented attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities, as he described it earlier, during a briefing to the UN Security Council, said in the statement: "The Special Envoy stresses the importance of taking advantage of this opportunity. Progress in steps to reduce violence, military escalation and unhelpful rhetoric. "
"The implementation of this initiative, launched in good faith by Ansar Allah, could be a strong message about the will to end the war," Griffiths said.
