Ending Yemen war will require 'uncomfortable compromises,' says UN envoy

Hans Grundberg to begin talks with warring parties on three-track political solution

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  Yemeni army reinforcements arrive to join fighters loyal to Yemen's Saudi Arabia-backed government, on the southern front of Marib. AFP

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  Outside Marib, a government stronghold in northern Yemen, joint forces have made advances in the provinces of Taez. AFP

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  A Yemeni pro-government fighter is pictured during fighting with Houthi rebels. AFP

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  Yemeni pro-government forces. AFP

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  Hundreds of Houthi fighters have been killed as fierce fighting continues for a second week near Yemen's west coast. AFP

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  Coalition forces continued the progress and took control of areas in the provinces of Ibb and Taez. AFP

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  Marib, a region that hosts more than two million internally displaced people, was until recently the main focal point of the war. But focus has now moved to the west, where about 200 Houthi fighters were killed in a second week of confrontations in Hays, Al Jarahi, Maqbanah and Jabal Ras. AFP

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  Saudi Arabia is backing the pro-government fighters. AFP

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  A Houthi fighter fires a weapon at a front line in the Al Jubah district of Yemen's Marib province. Reuters

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  A Houthi fighter with an amputated right arm takes position, in a frame grab from video handed out by the Houthi media centre. Reuters

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  Houthi fighters in the Al Jubah district of Yemen's Marib province, in another frame grab from video handed out by the Houthi media centre. Reuters

The UN's new special envoy to Yemen will begin talks with warring parties, political parties, civil society and experts to move towards a political settlement in the Gulf country.

Hans Grundberg said he would begin consultations next week on his plans for a political solution in Yemen along political, security and economic tracks, despite the Iran-backed Houthi rebels having so far refused to invite him to visit Sanaa.

The envoy also warned the UN Security Council that recent attacks by the Houthi rebels on the UAE and Saudi Arabia “indicate how this conflict risks spiralling out of control unless serious efforts are urgently made by the Yemeni parties, the region and the international community to end the conflict”.

He said: “Trust is low and ending this war will require uncomfortable compromises which no warring party is currently willing to make.”

“It is therefore incumbent upon all of us including this council to exert every possible effort to impress upon the parties to this conflict that there is no sustainable military solution.”

UAE Ambassador to the UN and Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation for Political Affairs Lana Nusseibeh on Tuesday criticised international efforts to rein in Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as appeasement.

She called for tougher sanctions and other measures against the armed insurgents.

A series of Houthi attacks in recent weeks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia underscored the need for action, Ms Nusseibeh said.

Fighting in Yemen has claimed more than 370,000 lives, directly and indirectly, the UN says, and caused widespread suffering, with four fifths of Yemen’s 30 million people needing handouts.

Houthi forces have frequently fired drones and missiles at Saudi cities and recently expanded attacks to the UAE. The coalition retaliated with air strikes on the areas from which the attacks were launched.

Last year, Mr Grundberg, a Swedish diplomat, became the UN envoy to Yemen, where years of peacemaking efforts have failed to end a war and a deepening humanitarian crisis.