Jamal Benomar, special adviser to the UN secretary-general on Yemen, Wednesday stepped down and his successor “shall be named in due course,” said a UN spokesman.
Benomar has resigned because he “expressed an interest in moving on to another assignment,” said the spokesman in a note to the reporters here Wednesday night.
“A successor shall be named in due course,” the spokesman said. “Until that time and beyond, the United Nations will continue to spare no efforts to re-launch the peace process in order to get the political transition back on track.”
Benomar, a Moroccan diplomat, has been acting as a mediator in talks among rival political groups in Yemen since 2011, when mass protests forced former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down and threw the country into a political gridlock.
The three-year reconciliation talks failed to resolve the crisis but create huge power vacuum that could benefit the powerful al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and other extremist groups.
Conflict in Yemen killed more than 500 people over the past two weeks, Valerie Amos, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement issued by her office earlier this month.
Despite Benomar’s efforts to seek a political transition in Yemen, what began as a domestic political dispute has devolved into a war.
Security situation deteriorated in Yemen since January when the Shiite Houthi group seized the presidential palace in Sanaa, the national capital, after deadly clashes with presidential guards.
The group, also known as Ansarullah and based in the far northern province of Saada, has been expanding its influence southward after signing a UN-sponsored peace and power-sharing deal on Sept. 21, 2014 following week-long deadly clashes.
In response to the current situation on the ground, the United Nations has relocated Benomar to Jordan and withdrew its last 13 foreign employees from the country.
“Mr. Benomar has spent the past four years working closely with the Yemenis to realize their legitimate aspirations for democratic change fulfilled,” the spokesman said.
On behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Benomar brokered the Transition Agreement in November 2011, facilitated the successful conclusion of the National Dialogue Conference in January 2014 that took 10 months of deliberations, and mediated the Peace and National Partnership Agreement in September 2014.
More recently, Benomar chaired and facilitated all-inclusive negotiations for over two months to get the transition back on track. “Unfortunately, this process was interrupted with the dramatic escalation of violence,” said the spokesman.
“The secretary-general greatly appreciates the tireless efforts Mr. Benomar has made over the years to promote consensus and trust on a peaceful way forward in Yemen,” the spokesman added.
