Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states attend a meeting on June 11, 2015 in the Saudi capital Riyadh. (AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE)
UN Security Council Resolution 2216 requires that Houthi militants withdraw from the areas under their control and put down their weapons.
Presiding over a meeting of the GCC foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah warned that the council would take necessary steps to maintain the national security of its member states if the UN-sponsored talks between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels failed to resolve the crisis in Yemen.
The peace talks are scheduled to begin on June 14.
All GCC members except Oman are part of the military campaign Saudi Arabia launched on March 26 in an effort to restore internationally recognized President Hadi to power and drive Houthi insurgents from the areas they have controlled in Yemen, including Sana’a.
Attiyah said the coalition would continue its operations in Yemen unless Houthi militants and forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh ended their power grab in compliance with the UN resolution.
The official said GCC member states would consider taking steps aimed at preserving their national and strategic interests in case participants in peace talks decided not to implement resolution 2216.
Attiyah said the GCC is capable of protecting its strategic interests.
“[The GCC] has all the capabilities to protect its strategic interests wherever they are,” he said.
The Qatari official said the Geneva talks constitute a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue and that the GCC cannot impose its vision on its outcomes.
Attiyah added that the GCC has received assurances that the talks will not fall outside the framework of the recommendations of the national conference dialogue and the UN resolution 2216.
“Yemenis are capable of reaching results that can serve their interests and we, the Gulf states, support legitimacy and have offered everything possible to protect it,” he said.
A special UN plane will land in Sana’a on Friday to carry party leaders and political figures participating in the talks in Geneva, a Yemen source told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the UN Khaled Alyemany said that Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah will attend the opening session of the talks which will be chaired by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday.
Yemen’s government has submitted a list of its representatives to the office of the UN Secretary-General, Alyemany said.
Arafat Madabish contributed reporting from Sana’a