Yemen rejects British initiative to revive talks

The government led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi has rejected a British initiative to revive talks about the political process in Yemen, a source close to Hadi told Saudi newspaper Okaz.

According to Quds Press on Friday, the source said that Britain informed Hadi of some ideas for the initiative, which has a political and humanitarian basis and ignores the military aspect. In many ways, it is said, the British proposal is similar to the initiative suggested by former US Secretary of State John Kerry. However, added the source, the other permanent members of the UN Security Council also reject the British plan.

Yemen’s Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul Malik Al-Mikhlafi, said that the political solution for the crisis in his country is Security Council Resolution 2216, the initiative of the Gulf States and the outcomes of the national dialogue, in addition to the withdrawal of the Houthis and the laying down of their arms.

He wrote on Twitter:

Legitimacy is the basis upon which we can build our solutions that the Yemeni people would accept to end the war, and regain state peace and security

Yemen FM: UN obstructing aid access

The UN Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Sheik Ahmed, visited Riyadh in October, where President Hadi’s government sits in exile. The visit was part of a tour to revive the peace talks which have been frozen for about a year. Local sources revealed that the envoy proposed a humanitarian initiative to the Yemeni government and the ambassadors of the five Security Council permanent member states.