Alimi Calls on Int'l Community to Adopt New Approach towards Yemen

President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad al-Alimi addresses the UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday, September 22, 2022. (EPA)
President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad al-Alimi addresses the UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday, September 22, 2022. (EPA)
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Alimi Calls on Int'l Community to Adopt New Approach towards Yemen

President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad al-Alimi addresses the UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday, September 22, 2022. (EPA)
President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad al-Alimi addresses the UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday, September 22, 2022. (EPA)

President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad al-Alimi called on the international community to adopt a new approach towards Yemen and end the humanitarian suffering caused by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias.

Delivering his speech at the high-level debate of the General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Alimi said that the transformative solutions adopted by the UN General Assembly require consolidating clear values of peace-building based on a stable government and a decisive deterrent to protect and facilitate the political process.

He called for finding alternative options that are equivalent to the power of deterrence as long as fears that the use of force will disrupt fragile attempts to reach calm and the terrorist designation will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe remain.

Alimi suggested that the international community backs the legitimate government so that the values ​​of freedom, peace and coexistence prevail, SABA news agency reported.

He also urged the international community to condemn Iran’s interventions in his country’s affairs and called on member states to abide by the UN arms embargo and prevent it from providing its militias with military technologies, such as ballistic missiles and drones that are used in terrorist acts against civilians in Yemen and other regional countries.

As the humanitarian truce is coming to an end, Alimi affirmed that the Yemeni government has adhered to all the elements of the armistice, namely operating regular commercial flights to Sanaa Airport and facilitating the entry of oil derivatives ships to the ports of Hodeidah, in an effort to alleviate the suffering of Yemenis.

He stressed, however, that the militias continue to block the roads of Taiz and other governorates, refuse to pay the salaries of their employees or release prisoners and detainees.

Alimi added that the militias are also trying to find any pretext to thwart the truce and obstruct UN efforts to renew it and build on it to achieve the aspired comprehensive peace.



US Links Ankara-Damascus Normalization to Political Solution in Syria

Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
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US Links Ankara-Damascus Normalization to Political Solution in Syria

Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)

Recent statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his willingness to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to normalize relations between the two countries have sparked mixed reactions.
While the Syrian opposition sees the possibility of such a meeting despite the challenges, Damascus views the statements as a political maneuver by the Turks. Meanwhile, the United States has tied the normalization process to achieving a political solution in Syria based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254, issued in 2015.
Turkish media reported on Thursday that a US administration official, who was not named, confirmed that Washington is against normalizing relations with the Syrian regime under Assad. He emphasized that Washington cannot accept normalizing ties with Damascus without progress toward a political solution that ends the conflicts in Syria.
Meanwhile, the head of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, Hadi al-Bahra, stated that a meeting between Assad and Erdogan is possible despite the obstacles. In a statement to Reuters on Thursday, Bahra said the meeting is feasible, even though Ankara is fully aware that the Assad regime cannot currently meet its demands and understands the regime’s limitations.
Bahra pointed out that the UN-led political process remains frozen and that he had briefed US and Western officials on the latest developments in the Syrian file. On Saturday, Bahra participated in a consultative meeting in Ankara with the Syrian Negotiation Commission, along with a high-level delegation from the US State Department, during which they exchanged views on the political solution and the need to establish binding mechanisms for implementing international resolutions related to the Syrian issue.
On the other side, Assad’s special advisor, Bouthaina Shaaban, dismissed Erdogan’s announcement that Ankara is awaiting a response from Damascus regarding his meeting with Assad for normalization as another political maneuver with ulterior motives.
Shaaban, speaking during a lecture at the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was reported by Turkish media on Thursday, stated that any rapprochement between the two countries is contingent on its withdrawal of forces from Syrian territory.