Kerry in Saudi Arabia for talks on Yemen, Syria and Libya

The conflict escalated a year ago when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

The U.N. human rights chief on Thursday called for an worldwide investigation of rights abuses and violence in Yemen’s civil war, which has killed thousands of people, as he insisted that a domestic panel set up to look into violations has not been up to the task.

Kerry also met UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to exchange ideas about reaching a political solution in Yemen.

The negotiations on how to bring the Houthis to the table, called the Quad discussion, took place between the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the UK on Thursday.

The Houthis are an offshoot of Shia Islam and are a minority in Yemen.

Jubeir said that the U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed would work with Yemeni parties towards taking the nation “out of the current situation and focus on the reconstructions”. The talks were suspended because the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Saleh, refused a peace deal and announced a 10-member council to govern Yemen.

During his 24-hour visit to Saudi Arabia, Kerry met representatives of the Gulf Arab countries who mostly back the kingdom’s war effort. It also continues to sell Saudi Arabia weapons.

The most recent of these attacks, in Hajjah province, killed 19 and left 24 wounded.

As recent as August 9 the State Department approved a possible sale of $1.15 billion in arms ammunition, tanks and other battlefield equipment to Saudi Arabia.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: As Kerry was huddling with diplomats in the Saudi city of Jeddah, the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva was releasing another damning report about the conflict in Yemen. Human Rights Watch and the New York Times editorial board have both come out against the sale.

Saudi Arabia and other Arab states in the Gulf belong to a US-led military alliance battling Daesh (so-called IS) militant group which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq.

TERESA SANCRISTOVAL: We have 19 people dead and 24 injured. A projectile fired from Yemen caused a fire at a power relay facility in southern Saudi Arabia, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported, citing a spokesman for civil defense at the Ministry of Interior. Kerry said the Houthis would be required to give up their heavy weapons to a third party, including ballistic missiles from Iran deployed at Saudi Arabian borders.

The secretary of state also criticized the worldwide response to the crisis in Yemen.

On Thursday, Kerry announced almost $189 million in additional humanitarian aid for Yemen, bringing the total amount of USA assistance to more than $327 million since October 2015.

Kerry said stability in Yemen is important to blunting the expansion of extremist groups there like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

The U.N. estimates that 3,799 Yemeni civilians have been killed since March 2015, AP reports, adding that the “U.N. and rights groups estimate at least 9,000 people overall have died”.

“Such a manifestly, protractedly unjust situation must no longer be tolerated by the worldwide community”, the statement said, calling for the creation of “an global, independent investigative body to carry out comprehensive investigations”. In addition, this new funding will provide critical protection, shelter, and other assistance for Yemeni refugees in the Horn of Africa.