UNITED NATIONS- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Saudi Arabia’s powerful deputy crown prince on Wednesday and the pair discussed improving civilian protection in Yemen.
An official U.N. statement said Ban and Prince Mohammed discussed “putting into place concrete measures that could improve the situation on the ground” to better protect children and civilians in Yemen.
Prince Mohammed, who is also the kingdom’s defense minister, did not answer questions when he left. Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi described the meeting as excellent.
“The focus was on international issues, especially the issues of the region and there was broad agreement on virtually everything that was discussed,” Mouallimi told reporters.
He said Ban and Saudi Arabia were both optimistic about peace talks in Kuwait between the government and Houthis, which have dragged on for two months with few concrete results.
Source: Reuters, 22 June 2016