Hadi urges implementation of U.N. resolution on Yemen

Riyadh (IINA) - Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi urged Sunday the U.N. Security Council to work on the implementation of resolution 2216 on Yemen. 

Addressing the opening session of the three-day Yemeni dialogue conference, he said that the Riyadh-based meeting would be the basis for any dialogue or negotiations. Resolution 2216 was passed in April under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter and imposes sanctions against the leader of the Houthi movement along with Yemen's former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. It was unanimously adopted by the session, with Russia being the only member abstaining, without using its veto. Speaking about the Houthis, Hadi said that Yemen’s dark forces who have killed civilians and turned Yemeni cities into ghost towns will soon be defeated. He also said that while his government was working on building the country, the Houthis were working on destroying it. 
In his speech, Hadi thanked all GCC states and specifically Saudi Arabia for its position on the Yemeni crisis. In March, Saudi Arabia, launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthis and fighters loyal to Saleh, in order to restore the legitimacy of President Hadi. Also during the conference, the U.N. envoy to Yemen called for the extension of the five-day pause in the Saudi-led air war which is due to end later Sunday. “I call on all parties to renew their commitment to this truce for five more days at least,” Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed said during his speech in the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh. “This humanitarian truce should turn into a permanent ceasefire,” he added.

The conference in Riyadh was rejected by both the Houthis and fighters loyal to former president Saleh, meaning it will not provide an opportunity for peace talks. However, some leading figures from Saleh's party, the General People's Congress (GPC), have travelled to Riyadh and pledged loyalty to Hadi's government.

Those who addressed the opening session of the conference included Yemeni Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdullatif Al-Zayani, Deputy Secretary General of Arab League Ambassador Ahmed Ben Helli and UN Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

HA/IINA

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