Backing by Gulf Arab states for the Syria plan is vital because they wield influence over Syrian opposition groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
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The U.N. said air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in support of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi were suspected of causing about half of all civilian deaths in Yemen.
“There have been numerous airstrikes by Saudi Arabia, according to reliable reports, that have been indiscriminate because they killed civilians, and one of the foundational principles of worldwide humanitarian law is distinction-distinction between combatants and noncombatants” said George Andreopoulos, professor of political science at the City University of New York Graduate Center and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Kerry told reporters that he raised concerns about civilian causalities in Yemen in his meetings. A number of U.S. politicians have also expressed concern about Washington’s role in the conflict.
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.
The US reiterated its support for the Arab state in November past year, when it approved a $1.29 billion rearming program for Riyadh.
Mr Kerry’s meeting with the GCC foreign ministers, British Middle East minister Tobias Ellwood and United Nations envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed were led by Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir and took place on Thursday afternoon.
The United Nations has called for the creation of an independent global body to investigate a series of human violations in the ongoing war in Yemen.
More than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since March 2015 and more than 80 percent of the population has been left in need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN. The two spoke briefly about the monarch’s health and an operation he had in the USA, apparently for back pain.
He said the initiative will be implemented following a negotiation between UN Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and all Yemeni political parties.
He additionally met Omani Foreign Minister Alawi bin Abdullah before a meeting with other Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
If a settlement cannot be reached that respects Saudi sovereignty and security while providing Yemen’s Houthi minority a role in government, “then things can only go in one direction, and that is worse in Yemen”, Kerry warned.
The British government has dismissed concerns over its continued weapons exports to Saudi Arabia, which is engaged in a bombing campaign in Yemen to oust the Houthi rebels. Human rights groups have argued that US forces may also be responsible under the rules of war for civilian casualties because of its support for the Saudi campaign. She said HRW found evidence that US -supplied bombs killed 97 civilians, including 25 children, in airstrikes on a market in northwestern Yemen in March.
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According to the American official, Kerry was also expected to fill in Arab leaders on negotiations with Russian Federation over a possible military cooperation against the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri group in Syria.
