The battle for Marib must stop, Griffiths says‏

The UN special envoy to Yemen on Wednesday concluded a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met with senior Saudi and Yemeni officials to discuss the UN’s plan to achieve a comprehensive cease-fire.

Martin Griffiths also held talks on easing restrictions imposed on the movement of people and goods to and from the country, and resuming the political process to end the conflict.

During his visit, Griffiths met with Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman, Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar and Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik Saeed, Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al-Jaber, and US Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking, as well as other diplomats.

Griffiths held talks on “the critical situation in Marib and stressed that the battle for Marib must stop to allow diplomatic peace efforts to achieve positive results,” the UN said in a statement.

He also expressed hope that the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement would continue to progress and warned against the threat of further fragmentation in Yemen.

“The parties have a responsibility to the Yemeni people to peacefully resolve their differences,” Griffiths said, adding: “A change of course is still possible now, but it will become much more difficult if the war continues, if the division and fragmentation increases more than this, and if the deteriorating humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate.

“Yemenis deserve better than a life of perpetual war,” he added.