The flurry of meetings were held after UN-mediated peace talks to bring an end to the war in Yemen were suspended earlier this month.
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The announcement came following meetings in Saudi Arabia with representatives of Riyadh, Great Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
The two men were joined by other worldwide diplomats today to talk about ways to break the impasse and revive talks on forming a national unity government for Yemen.
Briefing the media, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said Gulf states urge the Yemeni parties to return to the negotiating table and to reach an agreement for peace and stability in Yemen. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthi rebels, the country’s main opposition force. By late summer 2015, Saudi-led forces had launched a ground operation as well. It also continues to sell Saudi Arabia weapons.
Kerry said Washington was “deeply troubled” by rebel attacks on Saudi territory, where more than 100 soldiers and civilians have been killed in cross-border bombardments and skirmishes. Recently it has scaled back the number of advisors based in Saudi Arabia.
– On August 15, a coalition air strike killed 19 people at a hospital in northern Yemen that is aided by the French charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
“A child was killed and four people, including a child, were injured” in the attack, it added.
During the press conference, however, Kerry did not mention those concerns.
It will also include the “withdrawal of forces from Sanaa and other key areas”, and the “transfer of all heavy weapons including ballistic missiles and launchers from the Houthis and forces allied with them to a third party”.
He said details would be finalized by the “parties themselves”.
The United States has mobilized a robust humanitarian response to the crisis in Yemen despite the complex and insecure operating environment.
“I have to say that, to date, the worldwide response to this crisis has fallen short of filling the gap between the supplies that are available and those that are required”, Kerry said before announcing almost $189 million in additional humanitarian assistance.
Kerry said following talks in Jeddah on Thursday he agreed with Gulf states and the United Nations on a plan to resume peace talks in Yemen with a view to forming a unity government.
The civil war has been going on for almost two years and has brought more than 9,000 deaths, of whom 3,800 were civilians, as well as displaced three million people.
Zeid’s office says an estimated 3,799 civilians have been killed since the air campaign by the USA -backed coalition began.
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The UN Human Rights Council a year ago voted to defer a humanitarian investigation of the conflict to the Yemeni government.
