The Gulf Cooperation Council for Arab States (GCC) has expressed deep concern over the latest step by the Houthis and followers of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who signed an agreement to form a political council, in the Republic of Yemen.
The Houthis and Saleh group claimed that the alleged council would enjoy all political, military, security, economic and social powers, and management of state affairs, Saudi News Agency (SPA) has reported.
The Secretary General of the GCC Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, said that the signing of the formation of the political council agreement “is a clear violation of the resolutions of the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Security Council Resolution 2216, the initiative of the Gulf and its executive mechanism and the outputs of the comprehensive national dialogue”.
“The GCC member states see this step as putting obstacles on the way to a political agreement that could end the suffering of the people of Yemen, who looks forward at the political consultations hosted by the State of Kuwait, with hope and anticipation to restore peace and security throughout Yemen, to restore Yemen’s security, stability and unity, and to achieve the aspirations of the Yemeni people,” he added.
Al Zayani emphasised that the GCC states feel such steps were undermining the international community’s efforts to find a political solution through consultations in accordance with the agreed terms of reference represented in the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism, the outputs of the national dialogue and UN Security Council Resolution 2216.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United Nations Yemen envoy, said the move gravely violated UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls on the Houthis “to refrain from further unilateral actions that could undermine the political transition in Yemen”.
On Friday, the delegation of the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said it planned to pull out of the talks on Saturday. The decision was taken apparently in protest at the announcement of the formation of the council.
But on Saturday afternoon, Cheikh Ahmed said on his Twitter account that he had met both delegations, and “suggested a one-week extension to the talks and a framework for a solution to the crisis in Yemen”.
The official Kuwait news agency reported that both delegations were studying his proposals.
Kuwait on July 20 set a 15-day deadline for its hosting of the current round of U.N.-brokered negotiations, which began in June, saying if the parties could not reach a peace agreement by then the Gulf state would have to be “excused” from its role.
A statement by a group of ambassadors accredited to Yemen was posted on the website of the U.S. embassy describing the announcement of the Houthi-GPC council as being inconsistent with the “good faith pursuit” of peace. The ambassadors, who were not identified, said the negotiations represented the best hope for bringing peace to Yemen.
Meanwhile, warplanes of a Saudi-led coalition bombed Houthi fighters from Yemen seeking to infiltrate Saudi Arabia on Saturday, killing tens of Houthi militiamen, security sources told Reuters.
The bombing took place on the Yemeni side of the border close to the Saudi city of Najran, they said. Clashes were also seen in the northwestern Yemeni town of Haradh which borders the kingdom, witnesses told Reuters.
Yemen’s Houthi-run state news agency, Saba, said Houthi forces had fired missiles at Saudi targets.
The flare-up in fighting was one of the worst since peace talks began in Kuwait in April between Yemen’s government and the Houthis to end a 16-month conflict that has left more than 6,400 people dead, nearly half of them civilians, and displaced more than 2.5 million.
A truce that began in April has slowed the momentum of fighting, but violence continues almost daily.
* With input from Reuters
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