UK, GCC endorse controversial Yemen peace plan

In a joint statement, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the UK have emphasised the need to resolve the Yemen conflict, through dialogue and in accordance of UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

They also endorsed the UN envoy to Yemen’s roadmap to peace, which only a month ago, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi branded as a “betrayal of martyrs”.

The joint statement, which was issued after UK Prime Minister Theresa May gave her speech at this year’s GCC summit, pledged “continued support for the UN Special Envoy and the UN-led peace process, and endorse the road map presented by the UN Special Envoy to the Yemeni parties, which sets out clearly the path to a comprehensive agreement including sequencing of security and political steps that must be taken.”

The statement continued: “We urge the Yemeni parties to engage with the UN in good faith and to adhere to the UN-proposed Cessation of Hostilities under the same terms and conditions entered into on April 10, 2016. We reject the unilateral actions by the parties in Sana’a around the formulation of a political council and a government, which undermine the UN-facilitated peace efforts.” Yemen, which is the Arab world’s poorest country, has been wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthi group overran its capital city Sana’a and other parts of the country.