Brussels, 21/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 January, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called on all parties in Yemen to step back “immediately” from conflict in Sana'a, Marib and other parts of the country. “Violence and conflict impede the government from delivering services and the international community from assisting the country”, Mogherini stated.
She believed that the fighting in Sana'a since 19 January, “especially around the presidential palace”, the targeting of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah's convoy and the attempt to besiege the Republican palace where the prime minister held meetings “clearly aim at derailing Yemen's democratic transition” under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative. “Should differences of opinion over Yemen's roadmap of democratic transition persist, the GCC initiative, the national dialogue outcomes and the peace and national partnership agreement collectively provide a comprehensive mechanism, endorsed by all of Yemen's political components, to resolve these”, said Mogherini.
Mogherini also called on Ansar Allah, the Shi'ite militia, to release the head of the president's office and secretary of the national dialogue secretariat, Ahmed bin Mubarak, “immediately”. He was kidnapped in Sana'a on 17 January.
The fighting has claimed at least 18 lives and left dozens wounded. Ansar Allah seized the presidential palace on 21 January. The prime minister was able to leave the palace, after negotiation, surrounded by militia. (CG)