SAUDI ARABIA WARNS MORE YEMEN VIOLENCE

New York, 6 Dzulhijjah 1435/30 September 2014 (MINA) – Saudi Arabia has warned that neighbouring Yemen risks sliding towards further violence, which could damage regional security, after Houthi oppositions overran the capital last week.

Prince Saud al-Faisal, the kingdom’s foreign minister, called at the United Nations for immediate implementation of a UN-brokered peace deal, which he said had been flouted by the Houthis, local media reported on Monday, Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“The Republic of Yemen is facing a situation which is developing in an extremely serious way and which requires us to come together to meet this unprecedented challenge,” Prince Saud said.

“We call on all the parties to urgently apply the accord in its totality and we exhort the international community to help Yemen by all means possible.”

Houthi advances

The oppositions advanced from their stronghold in northwestern mountains to the capital Sanaa last month, then seized key state installations with little or no resistance on September 21.

Under the peace deal signed that same day, they are supposed to withdraw once President Hadi names a new prime minister.

Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Gulf back Yemen’s President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who has warned of “foreign plots” against his country.

It was a reference to Iran, which Yemeni authorities have repeatedly accused of backing the Houthi oppositions, who also appear influenced by Lebanon’s powerful Tehran-backed Hezbollah movement.

The Houthis have battled the government for years, complaining of marginalisation.

The violence has added to instability in Yemen since an uprising that led to the ouster of autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh two years ago.

The peace deal aimed to put the post-Saleh transition back on track in impoverished Yemen, a key US ally in the fight against al-Qaeda. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)