UN envoy: Forming political council in Yemen violates UN Resolution 2216

The U.N. Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the new alliance represents a violation of the worldwide resolutions and urged both sides to “refrain from unilateral actions that undermine political transition”.

Yemen’s dominant Houthi group and its allies in former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress party said on Wednesday they had agreed to set up a governing council to run the country, signalling frustration with peace talks in Kuwait.

The government considered the rebels’ declaration as a “clear challenge to the worldwide community and to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council”.

Earlier today, the Ansarullah movement announced a formation of a political council described by the internationally-recognized government of Yemen as a “new coup against legitimacy”.

Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abdulmalek Al-Mikhlafi said the new move represents a “new coup” and blamed the rebels for “missing an opportunity for peace”.

The main stumbling block at the talks in Kuwait has been the form of the government in Sanaa.

Saleh and the Houthis have been already been allied since 2014.

Farhan Haq, spokesman of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the “unilateral” decision obstructs the peace process and endangers the substantial progress made during the Kuwait talks.

“This represents a violation of UNSCR 2216 which asks all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that undermine political transition”, the United Nations envoy added.

Rajeh Badi, spokesperson of the Yemeni Government, downplayed the agreement struck between the two insurgent sides, telling Asharq Al-Awsat that this step showed that Houthis and Saleh’s forces don’t respect global efforts and the peace talks that took place in Kuwait.

The move came as the Houthi armed group and its ally party of former President Saleh have been engaging in peace talks in Kuwait since April that have so far failed to achieve progress.

Yemen has been racked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

The parties which signed the deal said that it was prompted by “the insolence of the Saudi assault and its coalition in continuing to kill our people and destroy public and private properties”.

Controversial positions by the rebels and government triggered growing fears of new wave of intensified war.

Houthi fighters in Yemen have reportedly staged a number of cross-border missile attacks, while Saudi-led coalition warplanes have bombed Houthi strongholds in Yemen’s northern Saada province.

Since the civil war began, 2.8 million people have been displaced and more than 80 percent of the population urgently needs humanitarian aid, according to United Nations figures.