Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman received at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Sunday UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his accompanying delegation. Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences on the death of the late King Abdullah and congratulated King Salman on his accession to the throne. — SPA Joshua Hoey Saudi Gazette
RIYADH — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Sunday for the restoration of the legitimacy of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi as Yemen's president. “The situation is very, very seriously deteriorating, with the Houthis taking power and making this government vacuum,” Ban told reporters after meeting Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. He said the situation in Yemen was the “major topic” of his discussions with King Salman, GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Nizar Bin Obaid Madani. The UN secretary-general visited the Kingdom to offer condolences on the death of the late King Abdullah. “King Abdullah helped realize progress in Saudi Arabia,” Ban said. “He worked to tackle regional and international challenges and address counterterrorism at a time of turmoil and change.” Ban said his meetings with King Salman had been “very fruitful” and that both leaders view sustainable development, renewable energy, and addressing climate change as vitally important. The two also discussed the situation in Syria and Iran, and Ban said they agreed that everything possible should be done to reduce terrorism from Yemen and to fight the self-proclaimed Islamic State group. “I encourage the government of Saudi Arabia to maintain a strong engagement with the United Nations so that we can rise to the many challenges facing this region and the world,” he said. Meanwhile, the UN envoy to Yemen has returned to Sanaa and resumed contacts with major political players to find a way out of a deepening crisis. Jamal Benomar returned to Sanaa late Saturday and held meetings with all the main political factions, including leaders of the ruling Revolutionary Committee set up by the Houthi rebels. The Houthis are under mounting pressure following their decision on Friday to dissolve parliament, which cemented their takeover less than five months after they seized the capital, Sanaa. Late Saturday, the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh added its voice to the growing opposition to the takeover and called for a return to the dialogue moderated by Benomar. On Sunday, provincial leaders in Maarib east of Sanaa decided that they would resist any attempt by the Houthis to seize the energy-rich province east of Sanaa. The Houthis have been preparing a campaign to capture the province, but the emergence of a strong tribal alliance there as well as a heavy presence by Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen have dissuaded them from pressing ahead. Arab League condemns Houthi ‘coup' Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al-Arabi on Sunday condemned the takeover of the Yemeni government by Shiite militia as a “coup” that would trigger more violence in the troubled member state. The Houthis' decree establishing transitional bodies outside the framework of a UN-brokered dialogue, was a “coup against constitutional legitimacy to impose that group's will at gunpoint,” Arabi said in a statement. The move by the Shiite militia would lead to “an increase in divisions and violence,” he added. — With agencies
