UN hails Oman’s role in resolving Yemen conflict

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that Oman is “part of the solution” to the war in Yemen, the Saudi-based Al-Riyadh news agency said yesterday.

Al-Riyadh quoted Cheikh Ahmed saying that the Omani foreign minister had attended the Quartet meeting in Saudi Arabia. This had focused on the importance of the three terms of reference: the GCC initiative, UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference. It also focused on the need to end the war in Yemen and ways of developing a plan to end the fighting through a political solution.

Last Monday, the US Secretary of State John Kerry, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, British Minister for Middle East and North African Affairs Tobias Ellwood, Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, and the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, met to discuss the situation in Yemen.

The meeting came after the internationally-recognised government of Yemen called upon the UN envoy to propose a new peace deal that respects UN Security Council Resolution 2216, the National Dialogue Conference and the GCC peace initiative.