USA 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.
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He said the U.S.is “deeply troubled” over Saudi photographs showing Iranian-supplied missiles being positioned along the Saudi-Yemen border, and rocket attacks fired at Saudi Arabia’s southern border from Yemen.
Thursday’s report by the United Nations rights office also denounced the recruitment of child fighters in Yemen, civilian casualties linked to suspected USA drone strikes that target al-Qaida’s local branch, attacks on human rights defenders and a crackdown on freedom of expression.
Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, is in Saudi Arabia today for talks about the ongoing conflict in Yemen.
The Houthis deny this and say the exiled government and the Saudis are imperialist pawns of the West bent on dominating Yemen and excluding them from power.
It said airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen were suspected of causing more than half of the civilian deaths in the time period mentioned, and that the coalition had committed other violations that might contravene worldwide law.
Kerry also joined foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a British official, at the Royal Terminal near Jeddah to explore ways to end an 18-month Yemeni war that has killed about 6,500 people, half of them civilians.
He was referring to Saudi-led Arab coalition airstrikes that since March 2015 have targeted the Houthis and their military allies still loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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 United Nations’ human rights chief Thursday called for an independent global investigation of abuses in Yemen that include military attacks on residential areas and medical facilities.
He said details would be finalized by the “parties themselves”.
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.
He additionally met with Omani Foreign Minister Alawi bin Abdullah before a meeting with other Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. All of them were reportedly taken to hospital.
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“Unfortunately, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is very bad”, he told reporters.
