Kerry said the worldwide response to Yemen’s civil war had fallen short of the region’s needs, and pledged a renewed political and security approach to resume talks.
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The secretary of state said the new “fair and sensible” plan calls for a unity government and a transfer of heavy weapons from the Houthi rebel group to a third party.
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.
While the initial aerial campaign destroyed most of Yemen’s stock of long-range ballistic missiles, another 15 months of air strikes away from the frontlines have had no notable effect on the course of the war, and have turned a large number of Yemenis against the Saudis, the Emiratis – a key Saudi partner in the Yemen campaign – and the USA and UK.
But the internationally backed government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi wanted a rebel pullout from seized territory, including the capital Sanaa, and a surrender of weapons, as the first steps, in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution on the crisis. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other rights groups have similarly urged the USA, United Kingdom and France to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia until it curtails its airstrikes in Yemen.
Fewer than five US service members are now assigned full-time to the “Joint Combined Planning Cell”, which was established a year ago to coordinate US support, including air-to-air refueling of coalition jets and limited intelligence-sharing, Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey, a US Navy spokesman in Bahrain, told Reuters.
Iran’s foreign minister is rejecting claims from Saudi Arabia that his country supplied the Shiite rebels in Yemen with missiles.
Kerry said participants were able to come out with a vision regarding the roadmap on Yemen.
United Nations -mediated peace talks in Kuwait between the warring Yemeni sides were suspended earlier this month with no signs of progress. They said that the downsizing had to do with the slowing pace of the campaign, not the growing worldwide outcry over civilian casualties.
Kerry is also holding a meeting to exchange ideas about the war in Yemen and stalled peace talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, British Under Secretary at the Foreign Office Tobias Ellwood, U.N. special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and the United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. An estimated 3,800 civilians have been killed since the Saudi-led airstrikes began.
The following morning, Mr Kerry met with King Salman for half an hour before holding talks with Saudi officials led by the deputy crown prince and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef.
Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi’s request despite a ceasefire agreed shortly before.
The U.S. military has coordinated with the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen, helping ensure Saudi access to precision-guided munitions.
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The coordination with Washington’s major Middle East allies came on the eve of Syria talks in Geneva between Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
