U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said a meeting Thursday which included Kerry, the U.N.’s Yemen envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, ministers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and a senior British official “focused on finding a peaceful political solution to end the conflict in Yemen and on the role of the worldwide community”.
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The UN brokered three months of peace talks in Kuwait but they were suspended earlier this month when the government reacted angrily to the rebels’ appointment of a new ruling council in Sanaa.
“In numerous situations where military targets could be identified, there remain serious concerns as to whether the incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects that could be expected from the attack were not excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage apparently sought”, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s office released in a report.
The intervention started in March past year as Saudi Arabia wanted to restore Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, whose government was overrun by Houthi rebels, a Shia-led movement from northern Yemen.
The US military has withdrawn from Saudi Arabia most of its personnel who were coordinating with the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen and has sharply reduced the number of staff elsewhere who were assisting in the planning, US officials told Reuters. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the meetings.
In Jeddah, Kerry also met with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at Al-Salam Palace. The two spoke briefly about the monarch’s health and an operation he had in the US, apparently for back pain. It was not clear when the surgery was performed.
Kerry said the global 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.
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 global law, it said in a report.
Kerry was to meet with UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Britain’s Middle East undersecretary Tobias Ellwood, and the foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
For their part, Saudi Arabia’s coalition partners, notably the U.S. and UAE, are likely to reduce their support for the Saudi campaign against the Houthi, instead diverting resources to fight the Sunni jihadists in south Yemen. Mr Kerry is scheduled for talks with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva on Friday.
The fight between the Houthis and the government, which was formed in November 2014, has created a security and political vacuum that has been used by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the more militant Islamic State (ISIL), to grow their strength and influence.
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Russian Federation has primarily targeted rebels, some backed by Saudi Arabia, who are fighting to overthrow president Bashar Al Assad, making Riyadh’s support for the plan crucial. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.
