Yemen Monitor/Muscat/Exclusive:
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, met with a senior Houthi official in Oman on Sunday, amid a wave of arrests of UN staff in Houthi-controlled areas.
A statement issued by Grundberg’s office said he met in Muscat with “senior Omani officials” and Mohammed Abdul Salam, the spokesperson for the Iranian-backed Houthis.
The statement said, “They discussed the recent arbitrary detention of additional UN staff, in addition to many others still held by Ansar Allah,” referring to the Yemeni rebels.
The statement issued by Grundberg’s office on Sunday said it “reiterated the firm position” of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who “strongly condemns these arrests and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained UN staff.”
The statement also called for the release of “staff of international and national NGOs, civil society, and diplomatic missions detained since June 2024, as well as those detained in 2021 and 2023.”
The United Nations announced on Friday that the Houthis had detained seven staff members, adding to the 13 UN staff and about 50 NGO workers who have been held since June. The international organization suspended the formal movements of its officials in Houthi-controlled areas.
Sources told Yemen Monitor that the campaign of arrests of UN staff and aid workers in international organizations, including the US Agency for International Development, continues.
The sources pointed out that the number of those arrested since last Thursday until Sunday reached 30 people, and they were abducted to an unknown location.
The kidnapping campaign came after the US announced the designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization.
The Houthis said that the June arrests targeted an “American-Israeli espionage network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations, allegations that the United Nations categorically rejected.
The relisting of the Houthis will require a review by UN agencies and other aid agencies operating in Yemen that receive US funding, according to the order signed on Wednesday.
