Kerry proposes Houthi presence in Yemen unity government

The U.S. has provided logistical and intelligence support to a Saudi-led coalition of nine Arab countries in their bombing and ground offensive against Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen.

During this period, IHS Jane’s assesses that coalition air strikes, predominantly by Saudi Arabia, are likely to be concentrated on Saudi-Yemeni border areas, and districts north of the capital Sanaa in support of pro-government Yemeni forces.

On Saturday, a Saudi child was killed and four others were wounded in a similar attack from Yemeni territories in Najran, according to the Twitter account of Civil Defense.

Kerry earlier called on Houthis to hand over their weapons including ballistic missiles and to pull back from Sana’a and cease shelling across the border with Saudi Arabia.

In Yemen, the SABA agency, which is under control of the Houthis, reported that two houses located in the district of Baqam in the city of Saada were destroyed by airstrikes overnight.

His talks with Saudi leaders and other Gulf Arab states were also due to cover possible US military cooperation with Russian Federation in Syria, a senior USA official said.

Jubeir denied this, saying the kingdom had “no interest, no claims in Yemen”. “It has to stop”, Kerry told reporters in a press conference in Jiddah. However, Kerry stopped short of asking the rebels to meet those requirements before the formation of the new government, a key demand of the exiled politicians.

“The multilateral meeting on Yemen is created to share ideas and initiatives for getting the political discussions back on track and trying to get a political solution”, the official said.

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

Kerry spoke of the “staggering” humanitarian impact of the war and announced an additional $189 million in aid in response to the crisis.

In June, Amnesty and HRW called for Riyadh to be suspended from the United Nations human rights council, alleging Riyadh used its post on the panel to obstruct any probe of possible war crimes in Yemen.

Zeid’s office says an estimated 3,799 civilians have been killed since the escalation of the conflict.

A report from the U.N. Human Rights Council released Thursday details a number of allegations of human rights abuses committed in Yemen over the past 18 months that have led to thousands of deaths and left millions of people without proper food. It will also provide critical protection, shelter and other assistance for Yemeni refugees in the Horn of Africa.