Yemen’s political council rejects UN envoy as peace mediator

Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, the country’s top governing body, says it will no longer maintain contact with United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, calling him biased.

Speaking in a televised speech late Monday, Saleh al-Samad, the Council’s head, said the UN envoy would no longer be allowed entry to the areas in Yemen that are controlled by the Ansarullah movement.

“We say unanimously that the envoy is no longer welcome here. There will be no more contact with Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmad and he is not welcome here,” Samad said.

Ahmed was “not desirable” in efforts to resolve the conflict gripping Yemen, he said, adding that if the UN chose another envoy, that individual will have to “respect the people’s will.”

Samad further said that the new decision had been taken jointly by the Ansarullah and their allies in former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress party.

Meanwhile, Ansarullah spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam supported Samad’s position and accused the UN envoy of having abandoned his neutrality regarding the conflict in Yemen and not respecting UN resolutions.

SS