The head of the Yemeni government group negotiating the opening of the main roads to Taiz, Abdul Karim Shayban, accused the Houthis of trying to rig and ignore the decision of UN envoy Hans Grundberg to open roads and lift the siege of the city of Taiz, while at the same time holding the UN envoy responsible for making decisions to harshly condemn the Houthis. The ceasefire is a complete and indivisible package signed by the government and the Houthis, including the opening of roads in Taiz and then the rest of the provinces.
He said that the Houthi group is pushing its point of opening secondary roads that do not meet the needs of citizens in Taiz province, southwest of Yemen, and explained that the roads that the Houthis have been pushing for for 150 years are old, mountainous and difficult roads that are not suitable for cars and vehicles and far from the city and the people of Taiz. He called on the international community to support this decision and impose sanctions against the Houthis group, as it impedes a truce.
Al-Houthi rejects UN offer
For their part, the Houthi militia has formally notified UN Ambassador to Yemen Hans Grundberg of its rejection of the revised proposal he made at the end of the second round of talks in Jordan.
According to a letter sent by the head of the Houthi Negotiating Committee, Yahya Al-Razami, to the office of the UN envoy, the militia reaffirmed its commitment to its unilateral proposal that it presented before the second round of talks in Amman and its rejection of Grundberg’s proposal.
The militia renewed its unilateral proposal to reopen the roads in two phases. The first phase includes the opening of the line (Salah-Abaar-As-Sarmin-Ad-Dimna-Al-Khawban-Sana) and the Lahj-Aden road (Al-Shrih-Karsh-Ar-Rahda-Al-Khawban-Sana), and the stage includes the Second, 56th Route, Air Defense, City of Light, in exchange for opening the other side of the road at Al-Dhalea (Maris-Damt).