US Secretary of State John Kerry has met with Saudi King Salman in the Red Sea city of Jiddah ahead of wider talks focusing on Yemen’s 18-month-long war and the conflict in Syria.
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This was stated after joint meeting of the foreign ministers of the six countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council with the US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah.
He also elaborated that United Nations envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed will immediately start a dialogue with all parties involved to outline new peace talks.
Before the meeting, U.S. officials travelling with Mr Kerry said he would update the Saudi leaders on United States and Russian plans for greater military and intelligence coordination in Syria and a potential deal with Russia that could see the Syrian air force grounded while Washington and Moscow cooperate again ISIL.
Mohammad Ali Alnsour, who heads the Middle East and North Africa section of the U.N. Human Rights office, said a recent report by the national panel focused on alleged violations by the Houthis, and said a “more objective, more comprehensive” report of rights violations by all sides was needed.
The attack also came as Saudi Arabia claimed that Iran, its regional rival, is supplying Houthis in Yemen with missiles.
The United Nations’ human rights chief Thursday called for an independent worldwide investigation of abuses in Yemen that include military attacks on residential areas and medical facilities.
Tobias Ellwood meets worldwide foreign ministers for discussions on Yemen.
A worker looks for survivors under the rubble of a food factory hit by Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016.
“This is a proposal that offers the Houthis an opportunity to have confidence in the government structure that will be put in place”, he said.
Last March, a Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes in order to stop Houthi advances and reinstate Hadi to power.
Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani attended the meeting.
Kristine Beckerle, a Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that by continuing to sell weapons to the kingdom, the United States “isn’t just signaling support for Saudi Arabia, it is in fact supporting Saudi Arabia in Yemen”.
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Yemen’s rebel-run news agency says airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have killed 11 civilians and wounded others in the northern city of Saada, the Associated Press reports. Russian Federation and Iran, however, are strong backers of the Syrian president and have been accused of targeting moderate opposition forces, some of whom are supported by Washington and Gulf Arab states.
