Hunt: Saudis must seize the moment and end war in Yemen
SAUDI ARABIA must “seize the moment” and end the war in Yemen, Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday as he visited Riyadh to put pressure on the kingdom over the conflict and the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
During a day of shuttle diplomacy, flying from Saudi Arabia to the UAE and back again before returning to London, Mr Hunt said he pushed the UK’S Arab allies to move toward a ceasefire in Yemen. He is the first British minister to visit Saudi Arabia since Mr Khashoggi’s killing, which Riyadh has blamed on a rogue intelligence operation.
His visit came as Turkey shared a graphic audio tape of Mr Khashoggi’s last moments. No 10 refused to say if MI6 had heard the tape, which reportedly captures Mr Khashoggi being strangled within minutes of entering the Saudis’ Istanbul consulate on Oct 2. “We have been discussing Khashoggi, but also the vital need to seize the moment in Yemen and stop famine and cholera intensifying,” Mr Hunt said.
Later, he added: “The international community remains united in horror and outrage at the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi one month ago. It is clearly unacceptable that the full circumstances behind his murder still remain unclear.”
Mr Hunt met King Salman and Adel al-jubeir, the foreign minister yesterday morning, and was due to meet Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince accused of ordering Mr Khashoggi’s murder. He also met Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of the UAE, and raised the case of Matthew Hedges, a British academic arrested in Dubai on spying charges.
Mr Hunt’s Gulf visit came as fighting continued in Hodeidah, the Yemeni port where a Saudi-led coalition is trying to dislodge Houthi rebel fighters backed by Iran.