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Tunisia stresses importance of ‘Arab solution’ to Yemen crisis

March 27, 2015 at 3:52 pm

The Tunisian foreign ministry stressed on Thursday the importance of an ‘Arab solution’ to the Yemen crisis, through the Riyadh dialogue and without foreign intervention.

“Tunisia expresses its deep concern about the very serious developments in Yemen,” said a ministry statement. “There is a risk of pushing the country towards a civil war that threatens and undermines Yemen’s security and unity and destabilises the entire region.”

The ministry added that while it understands the actions taken by countries in the region to support constitutional legitimacy in Yemen and maintain the stability and security of the Gulf region, there should be no foreign intervention. It urged all Yemeni groups to resort to dialogue and negotiations in order to reach a political settlement. “This should be in line with the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference and the Gulf Initiative so as to preserve Yemen’s unity and stability.”

Five Gulf States — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE — along with Morocco, Sudan, Jordan and Egypt, participated in “Operation Decisive Storm” launched on Thursday morning against the Houthi militias who control the Yemeni capital Sana’a and have attacked the second city, Aden. It followed an “invitation” by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to intervene militarily for the sake of protecting his country and its people from the “aggression” of the Houthis.

Pakistan has expressed its willingness to participate with ground troops in order to “counter threats to Saudi Arabia’s security”, while the US announced that President Barack Obama has ordered logistical and intelligence support to be given to the anti-Houthi alliance.