Yemen Peace Efforts To Continue: GCC

By P.K. Abdul Ghafour

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will continue its efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Yemen crisis, said Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates.

“We are concerned over the unstable situation in Yemen … together we have made big efforts to reconcile between the two sides and will continue our efforts in this respect,” he said.

Addressing a meeting of the GCC Ministerial Council at the Conference Palace in Jeddah, he said the meeting would discuss a number of important subjects including expansion of its membership. “We follow the strategic vision presented by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that aims at visualizing the future and making preparations for the requirements of the future,” he said.

Sheikh Abdullah, who is the current president of the ministerial council, highlighted the delicate regional and international situation, adding that it required more consultation and coordination among member countries.

“The past few days have proved that this coordination and vision have produced positive results in our Gulf and Arab region and a number of our international partners consider the GCC an effective organization that brings together stability and a clear vision,” he said.

GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said the meeting came after the consultative summit of the GCC leaders in the Saudi capital on May 10.

He said the ministerial council had held five emergency meetings to deal with the Yemen crisis in order to strengthen the region’s stability.

He also spoke about the GCC’s dialogue with the European Union and China, saying it had produced good results. He said the meeting would discuss a number of political, economic, media, humanitarian and legal issues.

This is the first GCC meeting after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was airlifted to Riyadh for treatment on June 3. According to Dr. Muhammad Al-Sayyani, a senior doctor accompanying Saleh, the president’s condition has improved. “The health of the president is good and is improving continuously,” Al-Sayyani said in a statement carried by the Yemen news agency, SABA.

He said Saleh has thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan and Prince Naif, second deputy premier and minister of interior, for the good care received by him and other Yemeni officials at Saudi hospitals.

Saleh highlighted the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and his country. “Our brethren in Saudi Arabia have always stood with Yemen. This reflects the deep-rooted, historic and brotherly relations between the two countries,” the president said.