UN chief set to appoint Briton Martin Griffiths as Yemen envoy

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday that he intends to appoint Britain's Martin Griffiths as the new UN peace envoy to Yemen, according to a letter obtained by AFP.

War-wracked Yemen is what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 60 percent of the population -- 17 million people -- in need of food, seven million of whom are at risk of famine.

Griffiths, who is executive director of the Brussels-based European Institute of Peace, "brings extensive experience in conflict resolution, negotiation, mediation and humanitarian affairs," Guterres wrote in the letter.

Griffiths would replace Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania, who last month announced that he would not stay on as Yemen envoy beyond the end of his contract at the end of this month.

Cheikh Ahmed failed to make progress in diplomatic efforts to end the war in Yemen as UN envoy since April 2015.

His predecessor, Jamal Benomar, also quit after four years of efforts to establish a political transition fell apart and the Saudi-led coalition began an air campaign in Yemen.