Defense Minister: Yemen Has Been Turned Into Landmine-Infested Area
Yemen's Defense Minister, Major General Mohsen al-Daari, said Thursday that the Houthi group has turned Yemen into the largest landmine-infested area in the world since World War I. The state-run Saba News Agency said that the Defense Minister emphasized the importance of continuing humanitarian efforts and supporting the national demining program, which has been exerting significant efforts to clear Yemeni lands of the landmines that the Houthi group has planted. He noted that the vast number of landmines and the considerable quantities of landmines require substantial cooperation and intervention to clear them. The war in Yemen began in 2015, and thousands of mines have been planted over the past years.
Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman affirmed his country's support for Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council and encouraged the Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution to end the Yemeni crisis under the supervision of the United Nations. This came during a meeting on Wednesday between the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, and the Saudi Defense Minister in the presence of Council members Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, Tareq Saleh, Abdul Rahman Al-Muharami, Dr. Abdullah Al-Alimi, and Othman Majali. The state-run Saba News Agency reported that the meeting discussed developments in the Yemeni and joint efforts to support the peace process in the country.
On Thursday, the President of the House of Representatives, Sultan Al-Barakani, called for a specific and executable roadmap that is based on the three references agreed upon locally, regionally, and internationally. This statement came during a meeting between the President of the House of Representatives, Sultan Al-Barakani, and the American envoy, Tim Lenderking, and the American Ambassador, Steven Fagin. The meeting discussed the ongoing developments in Yemen and regional and international efforts to end the war, alleviate humanitarian suffering, and create opportunities for peace and stability in Yemen. He warned that achieving Iran's goals and the desires of the Houthi would harm the entire region and jeopardize its security and stability.
The Gulf Cooperation Council reaffirmed its support for all international efforts to achieve security, stability, development, and peace in the Republic of Yemen and its people. This came during a meeting between the Secretary-General, Jassim Al-Budaiwi, and the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, on Wednesday at the General Secretariat headquarters in Riyadh. Al-Budaiwi pointed out that the Gulf Cooperation Council reiterated its consistent stance regarding support for the UN-recognized government in Yemen and ending the Yemeni crisis through a political solution based on the three references, namely the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism, the outcomes of the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, and Security Council Resolution 2216.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to Egypt on Friday, part of a trip to the Middle East where he wants to press his message that there should be no escalation of violence in the region after the Hamas attack on Gaza. Sunak was the latest Western leader to visit Jerusalem on Thursday to show support for Israel and to try to negotiate a way to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas and ease the provision of humanitarian aid to people in Gaza. In the talks in Egypt, Sunak will stress "the imperative of avoiding regional escalation and preventing the further unnecessary loss of civilian life," his office said.
