'Britain pushes for UN peace resolution on Yemen conflict'
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has indicted his country is pushing for a resolution in the United Nations Security Council that could guarantee the end of the Saudi war in Yemen.
Hunt made a statement on Monday in which he said the Foreign Office (Britain’s foreign ministry) was in close consultation with the UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, about the situation in the war-torn country.
The statement did not mention what specific action the UK will take to help end the crisis in Yemen but reiterated that London will do its best to ensure that a ceasefire could be implemented if the two sides of the conflict agree to end hostilities.
“The action the UK takes forward at the UN Security Council will help towards that goal, ensuring that a full ceasefire, when it comes, is fully implemented,” said the statement, adding that the time was right for the Security Council to act to bolster the UN-led process in Yemen.
It is the first time that Britain is showing its resolve to help end the conflict in Yemen, where it has supported a devastating war by its ally Saudi Arabia on civilian population for the past three and a half years.
According to Yemen’s Health Ministry, more than 15,000 have died since the onset of the warfare. This is while various reports put the death toll far higher, saying a Saudi-enforced media blackout has prevented proper investigation into the number of fatalities.
Hunt and other UK government officials are under immense pressure to act against Saudi crimes in Yemen, especially after it was revealed last month that Saudi authorities had ordered the killing on October 2 of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
Hunt said the UK “will use all its influence” to push for a political settlement of the dispute between the ruling Houthi Ansarullah movementand the resigned government which is backed by Saudi Arabia.
“Now for the first time there appears to be a window in which both sides can be encouraged to come to the table, stop the killing and find a political solution that is the only long term way out of disaster,” said the top British diplomat.
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