The intention of forming a unity government has been an Al Houthi demand from early on, but further encouragement to Al Houthis to take the talks seriously was a GCC-US agreement that when the rebels disarm they can give their weapons to a neutral third party. They also rejected the United Nations proposed peace plan on the grounds that it did not meet their criteria for a unity government.
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The Houthis had been demanding a unity government as the first step toward resolving Yemen’s war.
Kerry’s new peace road came after his meeting this week in Jeddah with foreign ministers of British and Arab Gulf states to end Yemen civil war.
Tensions in Yemen escalated after Shia President Ali Abdullah Saleh was deposed in 2012 and his Houthi supporters – reportedly aided by Iran – eventually seized the capital city of Sanaa in 2014.
Fighting escalated in March 2015 with the start of Saudi-led airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their allies who are loyal to Yemen’s ousted president.
“Saudi Arabia is committed to arriving at a peaceful solution”.
The most recent of these attacks, in Hajjah province, killed 19 and left 24 wounded. Recently it has scaled back the number of advisors based in Saudi Arabia.
After Reuters filed the report, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said in a statement that, “Even as we assist the Saudis regarding their territorial integrity, it does not mean that we will refrain from expressing our concern about the war in Yemen and how it has been waged”. That was echoed by Teresa Sancristoval of Doctors Without Borders, who says four of her organization’s medical clinics and one ambulance have been hit in Yemen in the past year and a half. On August 15, an airstrike on a MSF facility killed 19 people and injured 24.
“We’re happy to see you in good form”, Kerry said, before reporters were ushered from the room.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other rights groups have similarly urged the US, UK and France to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia until it curtails its air strikes in Yemen.
The secretary of state also criticized the global response to the crisis in Yemen.
Mr Kerry announced almost 189 million U.S. dollars (£140 million) in additional humanitarian aid for Yemen, bringing the total amount of United States assistance to more than 327 million dollars (£250 million) since October 2015. “We can not have this assertion that there is a crime or war crime”, Alnsour said.
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Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition are responsible for “the single largest part”, some 60 percent, of the 3,799 civilians killed since March 2015 and it has committed other violations that may contravene worldwide law, it said in a report.
