Yemen’s President Meets with US, UN Envoys

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)
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Yemen’s President Meets with US, UN Envoys

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi affirmed the government's full support for the mission of the UN envoy to reach a comprehensive ceasefire.

Hadi said after meeting the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, in Riyadh that peace has always been Yemen's option and "we'll continue to seek peace as this is the choice of life for our people."

During the meeting, the Yemeni President reviewed the roots of the Yemeni crisis caused by the Houthi militia and the reasons for the insurgents’ obstruction of the political process.

He also touched on Tehran's role in the country and the militia's affiliation to the Iranian agenda aimed at destabilizing Yemen and the region.

The President also met with the US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, to discuss the ongoing efforts to realize peace and end the war in Yemen.

"We do agree with the US about the strategic issues, namely, not to transform the Iranian experiment to Yemen and the region, secure international marine lines, and fight terrorism."

Hadi also asserted Yemen's support to all regional and international efforts to reach permanent and comprehensive peace based on the GCC's Initiative, outcomes of the National Dialogue, and Security Council resolutions.

He noted the importance of international pressure on the militias to end the escalation and targeting of innocents, displacement camps, and other actions on cities and ports.

The US envoy confirmed Washington's support for Hadi and the government's efforts to achieve peace. He also affirmed support for Yemen and its unity, and for the efforts to achieve peace.



Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.