Σελίδες

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Russia’s UN envoy urges meeting of all sides to Yemen conflict

All parties to the conflict in Yemen should gather in the country as soon as possible, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said Wednesday on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"The situation is very serious," Churkin said. "But it will probably be possible to solve it, including with the help of the UN Security Council."

Churkin stressed that a ground military operation in Yemen would trigger a humanitarian disaster.

"The start of a military operation involving foreign contingents might have absolutely disastrous aftermaths," he said. "The humanitarian disaster there might be highly aggravated."

 [tass.ru]
13/5/15
--
-
Related:
  • The UN Security Council on Tuesday called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to convene a conference to seek a solution to Yemen's crisis as the country saw its deadliest period of fighting since violence broke out on March 26.


"The members of the Security Council called on the secretary-general to convene a conference of all Yemeni stakeholders, with the intention of brokering a consensus-based political solution to Yemen's crisis in accordance with the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue conference, and relevant Security Council resolutions," the 15-nation UN body said in a statement issued to the press here.

"The members of the Security Council called on all Yemeni parties to attend these talks under the auspices of the United Nations and engage without preconditions and in good faith, including by resolving their differences through dialogue and consultation, rejecting acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refraining from provocation and all unilateral actions to undermine the political transition," the statement said.

"The members of the Security Council emphasized that the UN-brokered inclusive political dialogue must be a Yemeni-led process," the statement said.

Up to 100 people were killed on Monday in intensified air bombings on arms and missile caches in Yemen's capital Sanaa by Saudi-led coalition forces, medics said on Tuesday.

On May 4-10, at least 182 civilians have died in Yemen, 41 of whom were women and 51 were children, a spokesman of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

The UN Office verified that since March 26, a total of 828 Yemini civilians have died, 182 of whom were children and 91 were women. Another 1,511 people have been injured.

"The members of the Security Council expressed their grave concern about the severe humanitarian consequences of the continued violence in Yemen," the statement said. "In this regard, they welcomed the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of Yemen to implement a five-day humanitarian pause, and they called on all parties to respect a humanitarian pause."

The pause, which started Tuesday to enable desperately needed aid operations to be carried out in the country, came as Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN special envoy for Yemen, arrived in Sanaa, where he hopes to meet various Yemeni parties, in particular Houthi representatives, with a goal to achieve a more permanent cessation of hostilities on the basis of the pause, UN officials said here.

An aid shipment arrived at the port of Hodeida on Friday, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said also on Tuesday, adding that preparations were underway for a possible huge airlift of humanitarian aid if the pause in fighting holds.

The plan is for three flights to bring in 300 tons of sleeping mats, blankets, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting, spokesperson Adrian Edwards said.

The Security Council's statement said members emphasized that for the humanitarian pause to be successful, all parties will need to "transparently and reliably suspend military operations", and called on all sides to comply with international humanitarian law.

The Council also urged all parties to allow for the entry and delivery of essential relief items to the civilian population, including urgently needed food, medicine, and fuel, and to facilitate the field activities of humanitarian agencies, in coordination with the Yemeni government.

The Security Council reaffirmed their strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Yemen, and its commitment to stand by the Yemeni people, the statement said.

Yemen has been mired in political gridlock since 2011 when mass protests forced former President Ali Abdullash Saleh to step down.

Three-year reconciliation talks failed to resolve the crisis but created a huge power vacuum that has potentially benefited the powerful al-Qaeda and other extremist groups in the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemen is the base of al-Qaeda in the peninsula, a powerful offshoot of the jihadist militant group, which has carried out suicide attacks on Houthi supporters.

The terrorist group Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIL or ISIS, is also gaining ground in the country.
[Xinhua- china.org.cn]



No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive