UN envoy meets Ansarullah, GPC as part of consultations

EU lauds HH Amir efforts to resolve Yemen crisis

KUWAIT CITY, July 20, (Agencies): The UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad on Wednesday held a meeting with delegations of the Yemeni Ansarullah movement and the General People’s Congress (GPC) as part of the “Kuwait consultations” on Yemen.

Later today, he will meet with Yemen’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdul Malik Al-Mekhlafi who is leading the government’s delegation to the talks seeking peace in the country.

Ould Cheikh Ahmad’s talks with the Yemeni warring parties will focus on means of preparing the ground and reaching understanding to carry on with the consultations that aim to conclude a final and comprehensive solution to the crisis in Yemen, and the ensued humanitarian situation there.

He will seek to a convergence of views among the Yemeni stakeholders on a host of thorny topics that impede efforts to realize tangible progress to end the ongoing conflict in Yemen, especially issues relevant to withdrawal, handing over of weapons, releasing prisoners and restoring state institutions.

During the meeting with the UN envoy, Al-Mekhlafi is expected to raise the issue of the safeguards the government’s delegation has been seeking to continue the Kuwait consultations.

The delegation has demanded an obvious categorical acknowledgement of the legitimacy of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the UN Resolution 2216.

Ould Cheikh Ahmad will also meet today with Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled AlHamad Al-Sabah to discuss the obstacles impeding progress of the consultations.

The envoy is expected to have meetings with other parties concerned with concluding a peaceful solution in Yemen.

In the meantime, the release of prisoners and POWs in Yemen, as soon as possible, will be discussed by the concerned committee, as a goodwill gesture.

The UN-brokered intra-Yemeni peace talks resumed here Saturday after a twoweek stoppage period.

The UN envoy had announced on June 29 stopping the talks till July 15. Yet it was postponed a day due to the government’s delegation refusal to participate.

The talks first began in Kuwait on April 21.

The envoy on Saturday called on the parties in the consultations to take decisive decisions to authenticate their intentions for resolving the Yemeni crisis.

Ould Cheikh Ahmad, addressing the session of resumed consultations among the parties Saturday, said the groups should substantiate good intentions for settling the crisis according to the UN Security Council Resolution 2216, other relevant resolutions, the GCC Initiative and Its Implementing Mechanism, and the outcome of the Yemeni National Dialogue.

EU High Representative Federica Mogherini met Tuesday with Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah to exchange views on the situation in the region in particular in Iraq and Syria, praising Kuwait’s role to resolve Yemen crisis.

According to a statement released by her office this evening, during the meeting, “Mogherini commended the instrumental efforts of HH Amir Sabah (AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah) in promoting a peaceful solution to the Yemeni conflict by hosting UN-facilitated talks in Kuwait City.” Mogherini and Al-Jarallah discussed ways to swiftly promote a negotiated and inclusive political settlements in Yemen by working with all the parties, the UN and regional actors, it noted.