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1st LD Writethru: UN Security Council urges all parties in Yemen to accelerate talks

Xinhua, February 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Wednesday urged all parties in Yemen to accelerate UN-brokered negotiations and resolve their differences through dialogue, in order to reach consensual agreements and end the current political crisis.

In a statement issued here to the press, the Council members reiterated their call for all parties in Yemen, including the Shiite Houthi group, to adhere to resolving differences and achieving political goals through dialogue, rather than through violence and provocation.

The Council welcomed that the legitimate President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is no longer under house arrest, and demanded that the Houthis "immediately, unconditionally and safely" release Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, members of the Cabinet and all individuals still under house arrest or arbitrarily detained.

The 15-nation body strongly called upon all parties, in particular the Houthis, to abide by the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its implementation mechanism, the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, and the Peace and National Partnership Agreement and its security annex, which provide for a Yemeni-led democratic transition in accordance with previous resolutions.

The Council members welcomed the intention of President Hadi to engage in good faith in the UN-brokered negotiations and "urged all parties to accelerate these negotiations to be held in a location to be determined by Special Adviser to the Secretary- General on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, to continue the political transition in order to reach a consensus solution."

"The members of the Security Council stressed the importance of all parties allowing all Yemenis to assemble peacefully without fear of attack, injury, arrest, or retaliation," the statement said.

The security situation in Yemen worsened after the Shiite Houthi group took over control of capital Sanaa last September after deadly clashes with government forces.

As one of the most impoverished countries in the world, Yemen has seen power struggle since January when President Hadi and Prime Minister Bahah submitted resignations in protest against the Houthi group's takeover of the capital. Then the Houthi militia put Hadi and Bahah under house arrest.

After almost one-month house arrest, Hadi announced on Monday that he was carrying on with presidential duties after he left the country's capital Sanaa and arrived in the southern port city of Aden on Saturday. Endite