UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his "full confidence" in his special envoy for Yemen, in response to the Yemeni president's complaint that the envoy was favoring Houthi rebels, a spokesman said on Friday.
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi wrote Guterres a letter, complaining Special Envoy Martin Griffiths was favoring rebels. Guterres wrote back that he has "full confidence" in the envoy, said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman.
Hadi reportedly threatened in his letter to the secretary-general to stop cooperating with Griffiths because the envoy was favoring the Houthi rebels in negotiations to demilitarize Red Sea ports. The ports are crucial to open a flow of humanitarian aid to starving civilians.
"In his letter to President Hadi the secretary-general says that the United Nations commitment to the Stockholm Agreement stems first and foremost from our deep desire to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and assist in addressing the humanitarian crisis which continues to beset Yemen," said Dujarric.
"He assured President Hadi that his special envoy, Griffiths, will redouble efforts to support the parties on delivering on the commitment made in Stockholm and do so in a manner which is balanced and fully supportive of achieving a peaceful and lasting political solution to this conflict," Dujarric said.
The Stockholm Agreement was reached in Sweden in December and calls for removal of troops in and around the major port of Hodeidah and the lesser ports of Ras Issa and Saleef to enable the transport of humanitarian aid to civilians who are on the brink of famine.
Yemen has been in civil war in the past four years, pitting the Houthi rebels against forces loyal to the government of Hadi. Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition to support the Hadi government.
