GCC: Yemenis Looking Forward to All Parties Joining Riyadh Consultations

The GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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GCC: Yemenis Looking Forward to All Parties Joining Riyadh Consultations

The GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The intra-Yemeni consultations are set to kick off on Tuesday with the aim of reaching a political solution to the crisis in Yemen. They are being sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GGC) and will be held at its Riyadh headquarters.

GCC Ambassador to Yemen Sarhan Al-Minaikher said Sunday that all Yemeni parties are invited to the consultations.

"We expect everyone to attend without exception," he remarked in an interview to Asharq News television.

The Yemenis have sat individually with several international and United Nations agencies, but they have never sat together to directly talk to each other about their problems, he went on to say.

The GCC consultations aim to bring together all Yemenis so that they can come up with a clear roadmap that ends the war and leads to peace, construction and development, he added.

The Yemeni people "deserve a dignified life" and they are an integral part of the Gulf and Arab world, stressed Al-Minaikher.

The Yemenis are hoping that no party will skip the consultations, he stated.

The consultations will kick off on Tuesday and conclude on April 7.



Arab, Islamic, African Mechanism Established to Support Palestinian Cause

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (Reuters)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (Reuters)
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Arab, Islamic, African Mechanism Established to Support Palestinian Cause

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (Reuters)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (Reuters)

The Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the African Union (AU) signed a tripartite agreement on Monday to support the Palestinian cause, during the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh.

The move was praised by the summit, especially for the African Union’s strong position on the issue.

According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, the mechanism will be coordinated through the organizations’ secretariats. Representatives will meet regularly to align their positions and strengthen their influence in international forums.

Joint coordination meetings will be held soon to finalize the details of the agreement.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan welcomed the cooperation, noting that the three organizations will now speak with one voice internationally, instead of through individual bilateral talks.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit added that while Arab-African and Arab-Islamic cooperation already exists, this is the first time an agreement has united the three organizations on this issue.

He said the agreement will expand cooperation and set a clear strategy moving forward.