Sheikha Alia: “It is a coup against the legitimate government in Yemen and is an undermining of the political and peaceful transition”
Reuters/United Nations
Qatar urged the United Nations Security Council yesterday to take action in Yemen, after the UN warned that the country is on the brink of a civil war.
Qatar’s UN Ambassador Sheikha Alia bint Ahmed bin Seif al-Thani, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Co-operation Council, said: “It is a coup against the legitimate government in Yemen and is an undermining of the political and peaceful transition,” she said. “We should bring pressure to bear on the Houthi to stop using force and to withdraw from all governmental institutions.”
She said the Gulf Co-operation Council was ready to support Yemen in reaching a political agreement.
The United Nations warned that while progress has been made in Yemen talks on a political settlement, the country is on the brink of a civil war and conditions are conducive to allowing Al Qaeda militants to strengthen.
Al Qaeda and other militants have stepped up attacks since rival Iranian-backed Shia Houthi fighters from the north seized the capital in September and started expanding across the country.
The Houthis have sidelined the central government in Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia. The country is also home to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the global network’s most active arms that has carried out attacks abroad.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, briefed the Security Council yesterday.
“Yemen is collapsing before our eyes. We cannot stand by and watch,” Ban told the 15-nation council. “We must do everything possible to help Yemen step back from the brink and get the political process back on track.”
Benomar said daily negotiations on a political settlement had yielded “good progress”, but were still at a delicate stage.
“Today Yemen is at a crossroad - either the country would descend into civil war and disintegration or the country would find a way to put the transition back on track,” he told the council via video link from Sanaa.
“The current instability is creating conditions which are conducive to a reemergence of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” he said.
Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters seized an army base in southern Yemen and held soldiers prisoner yesterday. The United States, Britain and France have closed their embassies in Sanaa, citing security concerns.
Benomar also warned that Yemen’s economy was facing imminent failure and that the local currency could collapse if a political settlement was not secured in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Britain’s UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said that Britain and Jordan were planning to draft a resolution on Yemen that he hoped could be adopted within days. He declined to elaborate on what the key elements of the resolution could be. Page 4
