Saudi Arabia – AFP – Feb. 8, 2015 – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Sunday for the restoration to power in Yemen of Western-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after Houthi militia seized power.
“The situation is very, very seriously deteriorating, with the Houthis taking power and making this government vacuum,” Ban said, referring to the Shiite militia which dissolved the Sanaa government and parliament on Friday.
“There must be restoration of legitimacy of President Hadi,” the UN chief told reporters after talks with King Salman in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi militia on Friday created a “presidential council” in a move it said was designed to fill a power vacuum and would head off the threat from Al-Qaeda, which has a strong presence in east and south Yemen.
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), led by Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia, on Saturday described the Houthi action as a coup.
The militia overran Sanaa in September, then seized the presidential palace and key government buildings last month, prompting Hadi and Prime Minister Khalid Bahah to resign.
“I’m concerned that all these Huthis and… former president Saleh have been undermining the transition process, ” said Ban, who arrived in the kingdom to pay his respects after the January 23 death of King Salman’s predecessor, Abdullah.
Ban also met other officials including Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and GCC Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani.
“This situation in Yemen has been the major topic which we addressed,” Ban said, adding that it must be dealt with through UN Security Council and GCC initiatives.
Ban said UN envoy Jamal Benomar has been “working very hard in Yemen, facilitating a way out of the current political crisis and a return to the path of the peaceful political transition.”
Security Council president Liu Jieyi has said its 15 members were ready to “take further steps” if UN-brokered negotiations to resolve Yemen’s political crisis were not resumed “immediately”.
The Huthis announced that Hadi’s defence minister, General Mahmud al-Subaihi , would chair a newly formed “security commission” which will include the outgoing interior minister.
But Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors said the Houthi actions “totally undermine” international and regional efforts to help resolve Yemen’s crisis, marking “a grave and unacceptable escalation”.
Ban said that he and King Salman agreed “everything possible must be done to reduce terrorism, both from Yemen and from Daesh,” an Arabic term to describe the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
Both Jordan and Saudi Arabia are part of a United States-led coalition conducting air strikes against IS.
He said he hopes Riyadh’s plan to reopen an embassy in Baghdad , after nearly 25 years and a history of strained ties, will deepen their cooperation “including on countering terrorism”.