Security Council calls for international conference on Yemen

Women hold up banners as they take part in a protest against Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, in front of the offices of the UN headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, May 12, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Tuesday called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to convene a conference to seek a solution to Yemen's crisis as the country saw its deadliest period of fighting since violence broke out on March 26.

"The members of the Security Council called on the secretary-general to convene a conference of all Yemeni stakeholders, with the intention of brokering a consensus-based political solution to Yemen's crisis in accordance with the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue conference, and relevant Security Council resolutions," the 15-nation UN body said in a statement issued to the press here.

"The members of the Security Council called on all Yemeni parties to attend these talks under the auspices of the United Nations and engage without preconditions and in good faith, including by resolving their differences through dialogue and consultation, rejecting acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refraining from provocation and all unilateral actions to undermine the political transition," the statement said.

"The members of the Security Council emphasized that the UN-brokered inclusive political dialogue must be a Yemeni-led process," the statement said.

Up to 100 people were killed on Monday in intensified air bombings on arms and missile caches in Yemen's capital Sanaa by Saudi-led coalition forces, medics said on Tuesday.

On May 4-10, at least 182 civilians have died in Yemen, 41 of whom were women and 51 were children, a spokesman of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

The UN Office verified that since March 26, a total of 828 Yemini civilians have died, 182 of whom were children and 91 were women. Another 1,511 people have been injured.

"The members of the Security Council expressed their grave concern about the severe humanitarian consequences of the continued violence in Yemen," the statement said. "In this regard, they welcomed the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of Yemen to implement a five-day humanitarian pause, and they called on all parties to respect a humanitarian pause."

The pause, which started Tuesday to enable desperately needed aid operations to be carried out in the country, came as Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN special envoy for Yemen, arrived in Sanaa, where he hopes to meet various Yemeni parties, in particular Houthi representatives, with a goal to achieve a more permanent cessation of hostilities on the basis of the pause, UN officials said here.