The key new element in the new plan is a suggestion that the GCC states and the legitimate government of Yemen need not insist on all these conditions being fulfilled before the formation of a new unity government.
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A Saudi-led coalition has been bombarding Yemen for 18 months now to try to restore a government that was ousted by a rebel group called the Houthis.
“We agreed on a renewed approach to negotiations with both a security and political track simultaneously working in order to provide a comprehensive settlement”, Kerry said while standing beside Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.
The reference to handing weapons to a third party also appeared to be a departure from the government demands.
If they are serious about peace, and want to be able to claim the moral high ground in the future conflicts, Kerry and his British colleagues might want to start thinking about how to rein in the Saudi bombing campaign. “This has a clarity to it about how confidence can be built, what the end game looks like, and how the parties get there”.
Kerry arrived in Jeddah late on Wednesday from Nigeria for discussions with Saudi leaders and other Gulf Arab states and will also update them on USA meetings with Russian Federation on military cooperation in Syria, a senior US official said ahead of the talks.
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”.
Kerry “will raise our concerns about civilian casualties and damage to civilian targets inside Yemen”, the USA official said, adding that he would press the Saudis to ensure air strikes were “discriminate and precise”.
The U.N. estimates that 3,799 Yemeni civilians have been killed since March 2015, AP reports, adding that the “U.N. and rights groups estimate at least 9,000 people overall have died”.
The United States has called on all sides in the war in Yemen to avoid civilian casualties, the White House said on Thursday, after the U.N. human rights office said air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen are responsible for the largest part of the 3,799 civilians killed in the conflict so far.
Saudi fighter planes also pounded a school in the country’s province of Sa’ada, as well as targets in the Razih and Badim districts in the mountainous northwestern province.
The Houthis and Saleh, it needs to be repeated, are nearly certainly committing war crimes in Yemen, according to human rights groups.
Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch Kristine Beckerle told The Associated Press that by continuing to sell weapons to the kingdom, the U.S.
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Similar talks were also held during Kerry’s meetings with Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior; Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, on Wednesday night.
