UN urges Yemen cease-fire to confront cholera

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged the warring parties in Yemen on Thursday to immediately agree on a cease-fire and keep all ports open for humanitarian aid to confront the threat of famine and the rapid spread of cholera.

A presidential statement read at a formal council meeting urged Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government to engage in peace talks “in a flexible and constructive manner without preconditions and in good faith” to end their nearly three-year civil war.

The British-drafted statement, approved by all 15 council members, stressed the importance of keeping all ports, especially Hodeida, as “a critical lifeline” for humanitarian supplies.

Britain’s UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the statement was the first by the council on Yemen for 15 months and the first to call on the parties to end the violence, resume the political process and ensure full access for humanitarian aid and workers. Given the different national views on Yemen, he said, the council’s unity shows the level of concern about the civil war, “exacerbated by the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding.”

“This is a sign to the parties that they really must get back to a genuine, meaningful political process ... to finish the conflict and to overcome the divisions of the past — and the only way to do that is through a long-term political settlement,” Rycroft said.

Yemen, which is on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has been engulfed in civil war since September 2014 when Houthi rebels swept into the capital of Sanaa and overthrew President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognized government.