UAE will not budge on working towards a stable Yemen: AD CP
ABU DHABI: His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, discussed with Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Chairman, Dr Rashad Al Alimi, the various aspects of bilateral relations in addition to an array of regional and global issues of mutual interest.
During the meeting which took place on Saturday at Qasr Al Bahr, Sheikh Mohamed and Chairman Al Alimi exchanged congratulations on the advent of Eid Al Fitr, praying to Allah Almighty to make it an occasion of goodness, blessing and peace for the two countries and their brotherly peoples.
Sheikh Mohamed affirmed the UAE’S support for the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council to fulfil its national responsibilities towards ensuring the stability and security of Yemen and to achieve the aspirations of its people for development and progress.
Sheikh Mohamed said the UAE will spare no effort to provide all possible support to brotherly Yemen at all levels, highlighting the historical relations uniting the two nations.
Sheikh Mohamed also congratulated Al Alimi on assuming the leadership of Yemen, and expressed his sincere wishes to him for success in serving his country and its people, overcoming the difficult circumstances it is going through, and moving forward towards stability and peace.
For his part, Dr Al Alimi expressed his thanks and appreciation to his highness sheikh mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the warm reception and for the UAE’S continuous support for the Yemeni people in various fields.
The meeting was atended by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Advisor for Special Affairs at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, and Ali Bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Deputy Secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council.
A week ago the UAE had congratulated Rashad Al Alimi for taking the constitutional oath in the city of Aden.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) affirmed the UAE’S full support for the Presidential Leadership Council to enable it to carry out its tasks, foremost of which are peace, stability and development in brotherly Yemen.
Moreover, the UAE wished the Council success in fulfilling its national responsibilities.
Furthermore, the UAE underscored its commitment to standing by the brotherly Yemeni people and supporting their legitimate aspirations for development and prosperity as part of its support for all efforts to achieve the interests of the peoples of the region.
In the beginning of this April Yemen’s president announced that he had formed a new council to lead the war-wracked country, state media reported, a major shake-up in the coalition batling Houthi rebels.
“I irreversibly delegate to this presidential leadership council my full powers,” President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi said in a televised statement.
Hadi’s internationally recognised government, supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, and Houthi rebels have been locked in a violent power struggle since 2014, when the insurgents seized the capital Sanaa.
A United Nations-brokered truce that started on the first day of the Holy month of Ramadan — has offered a glimmer of hope in the conflict.
Last month the Gulf Cooperation Council (Gcc)-initiated comprehensive talks among various Yemeni political factions including tribal and military leaders, Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, General People’s Congress, pro-independence Southern Transitional Council, began talks in Riyadh.
GCC Secretary-general Nayef Falah Al Hajraf, opening the conference said, “The success of the consultations is not an option but a duty that requires everyone to (bear) the national responsibility and to reject all causes of division and internal disparities.”
He lauded the quick response to the GCC call for truce. The coalition had called a halt to military operations to facilitate the talks.
The Houthis rejected the truce call, and refused to join the peace parleys, and they have even increased the military atacks on Marib in central Yemen taking advantage of the other groups refraining from military engagement. Abdullah bin Ali Jaber, a tribal leader from southeastern Yemeni province of Hadramout said: “The situation in Yemen is disastrous. There is a severe shortage of fuel and people are very poor. We hope Yemenis will unite their voices during the talks and the international community, mainly Saudi Arabia and GCC, help them implement the outcomes.”
The United Nations’ Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg, who has also been trying to hold the Yemen peace talks, acknowledged the efforts made by Saudi Arabia and the GCC in bringing together different Yemeni groups to talk to each other.