Cairo – Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit said that any settlement to the crisis in Yemen should be based on the outcome of national dialogue, the Gulf Initiative and UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

Abul Gheit met on Monday in Cairo with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, with whom he discussed latest developments in the war-torn country.

The Arab League secretary general stressed that any efforts to resolve the crisis should consider how to deal quickly and effectively with deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Yemen, especially with the spread of the cholera epidemic in a number of Yemeni governorates and the decline in the level of health services.

He noted that the humanitarian disaster could stretch for years, in the wake of the current situation.

The Arab League secretary general spokesman, Mahmoud Afifi, said that Abul Gheit has listened to a presentation by the UN envoy on recent talks with the concerned Yemeni, regional and international parties in an effort to reach an appropriate settlement to the crisis.

Arab diplomatic sources noted that the UN envoy’s plan provided for the withdrawal of Houthi militias from the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, in exchange for the legitimate government’s approval to open Sana’a airport and to hand over salaries to employees in the provinces controlled by Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s militias.

In remarks at the opening session of the Arab League Consultative Meeting at the level of permanent delegates on Yemen, Abul Gheit praised efforts deployed by the UN envoy and urged Houthi rebels and other groups to place high the country’s national interests, stressing that restoring legitimacy in Yemen was the only way to rebuild the country and end any humanitarian crises.