The proposal by Kerry came after Houthis stepped up missile attacks on border regions in Saudi Arabia over the past few weeks.
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And despite Kerry’s words about seeking peace in Yemen, the USA continues to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons that have been used to kill civilians in that country.
Instead, he called on the Houthis to stop shelling Saudi Arabia, pull back from Sanaa and transfer their weapons to a third party in exchange for their inclusion in a unity government.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government, based in Saudi Arabia, has made similar demands but insisted that the Houthis fulfil all those measures before any new government was formed. However Kerry suggested they could move ahead in parallel.
“It is the ideological, financial and political source of the Takfiri terrorism that is threatening the region and the world and Mr. Kerry should be well aware of the causes and the source”, he said. “This has a clarity to it about how confidence can be built, what the end game looks like, and how the parties get there”.
U.S. secretary of state John Kerry and Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince, Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman, held talks in Jeddah on 25 August to discuss options to resume peace talks between warring Yemeni factions.
“Unfortunately, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is very bad”, he told reporters.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the United States, U.K., France and others to suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia until it reduces its air war in Yemen.
Since the conflict flared with Saudi Arabia’s entry, 3,799 civilians have been killed and 6,711 injured, according to the U.N. More than 7.6 million people are now suffering from malnutrition and at least three million people have been forced to flee their homes.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March previous year after the rebels and their allies overran most of the country, prompting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee into exile.
Aramco has no oil facilities in southern Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen, apart from a bulk plant in Jazan province for distributing oil products. The government recognised by the worldwide community is that of President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi, which has its provisional capital in the southern port city of Aden and is allied with Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed Abdulsalam, the Ansarullah spokesman, said Saturday that the offer aims at depriving the Houthis of their arms in their fight of resistance against the Saudi invasion.
Jubeir denied this, saying the kingdom had “no interest, no claims in Yemen”.
Mr Kerry arrived in Jeddah on Wednesday night and had a three-hour dinner with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman that lasted until almost 1am, according to USA officials.
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“During the meeting today with the envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations to the Republic of Yemen, we have discussed ideas which express the desire of coalition countries, in reaching a peaceful solution, in Yemen”, he said, adding that “We also discussed ideas to refute the arguments of the Houthi militia and Saleh to derail the consultations”.
