The UN’s special envoy to Yemen called for the release of UN staff held by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels during his visit to Oman where he met officials
Grundberg is seen at the Sana’a International Airport in the Yemeni capital on January 6, 2025 [Mohammed Hamoud/Getty]
The United Nations’ special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, met on Sunday with a senior Houthi official in Oman and called for the release of UN staff held by the rebels.
A statement from Grundberg’s office said he met in Muscat with “senior Omani officials” and Mohammed Abdul Salam, spokesman for the Iran-backed Houthis.
“They addressed the recent arbitrary detention of additional United Nations personnel adding to the numerous others already held by Ansar Allah,” the statement said, referring to the Yemeni rebels.
On Friday the UN announced that the Houthis had detained seven employees, adding to 13 UN personnel and some 50 NGO workers held since June.
The Houthis said at the time that the June arrests targeted “an American-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organisations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN.
The statement from Grundberg’s office on Sunday said he had “reiterated the firm stance” of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres “strongly condemning these detentions and calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained UN staff”.
The statement also called for the freeing of “personnel from international and national non-governmental organisations, civil society and diplomatic missions held since June 2024, as well as those held since 2021 and 2023”.
A decade of war has plunged Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations.
US President Donald Trump this week ordered the Houthis placed back on the US list of foreign terrorist organisations.
Re-listing the Houthis will trigger a review of UN and other aid agencies working in Yemen that receive US funding, according to the order signed on Wednesday.