The United Nations announced the appointment of Mr. Mu’in Shreim to lead and enhance ongoing efforts to secure the release of the detainees and prevent any future detentions.
Shreim , a former Deputy Head of Mission at the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen , Played a leading role in mediating and negotiating agreements between parties in Yemen and the region, including the Stockholm Agreement (2018), temporary arrangements to relieve the fuel crisis in parts of northern Yemen (2019), large-scale prisoners release agreements (2020 and 2023), and the nationwide truce (2022) and its two renewals.
The UN announcement followed a new wave of arrests carried out by the Houthi group in Sana’a, which targeted seven Yemeni employees working for the organization on charges of “espionage for Israel,” according to media reports citing a source within the group.
According to sources, the arrests took place between Thursday evening and Friday morning.
This incident comes days after the group detained 20 UN staff members, including 15 foreigners and a representative from UNICEF, following their storming of a UN compound in the capital, Sana’a, which they have controlled since 2014.