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Recast: Yemen consultations convene in Geneva to end crisis

Xinhua, June 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Geneva Consultations on Yemen kicked off on Monday morning at the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG), marking an important step as the parties embark on the road towards a settlement.

These are the first consultations to involve the different sides of the Yemeni conflict since hostilities resumed.

Coordinated by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the political components participating in the Geneva consultations derived from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative and the National Dialogue Conference.

In addition, Yemeni President Abd Rabou Mansour Hadi on Sunday decided to send one unified delegation to the Geneva consultations.

The Geneva Consultations on Yemen began around 9:00 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) . UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took apart "very constructive meeting" with representatives of Yemen government, followed by a brief meeting with Group of Sixteen ambassadors.

"Our goal to have a joint meeting this morning, but logistical issue made this impossible this morning," Ban told reporters, adding the Houthis and other parties are on their way and full consultations will be here in the coming hours.

He said the parties have the responsibility to end the fighting and begin the real process of peace and reconciliation. According to him, since March the fighting has killed more than 2,600 people, half of them are civilians.

He called for renewed humanitarian pause to allow critical assistance to reach all Yemenis in needs and provide respite as the whole month of Ramandan begins on Thursday, and urged the parties to reach agreement on cease fire.

Meanwhile, he called on them to make sure peaceful and orderly political transition and to ensure that the process involving more representation from other political parties, women, youth, and civil society.

The UN hoped that the consultations could create a new dynamic to build confidence between Yemeni actors and yield concrete benefits for the people, especially reduced violence and increased access to humanitarian aid and basic services.

According to UNOG, the closed-door consultations would be two to three days but possibly longer.

The Group of Sixteen was made up of the Ambassadors of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Egypt and Turkey, as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union. Endit