GCC promises global meet to rebuild Yemen

Dubai: Leaders from the six Gulf Cooperation Council states, wrapped up the two-day summit in Riyadh for a two-day with the announcement of “preparing an international conference on the reconstruction of Yemen” after a political solution to the conflict, a statement said.

Leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - spoke of “a plan to rehabilitate the Yemeni economy to integrate it into the Gulf economy.” The UAE’s Ministry of International Cooperation and Development announced that the UAE will provide a donation of Dh73.5 million to secure humanitarian needs for people in Yemen. The grant will be distributed to a number of organisations; Dh36.7 million to the International Red Cross, Dh22.2 million to the World Food Programme, Dh 7.34 million to Unicef and Dh7.34 million to other international organisations.

Since the events, the UAE’s total aid to Yemen currently stands at Dh1.62 billion, during which Emirati humanitarian organisations provided aid for the people of Yemen and for construction of infrastructure in affected cities.

On Syria, the GCC affirmed its support for a political solution and the outcome of the opposition meeting held in Riyadh. The meet gathered more than 100 factions, including rebel groups, in an effort to unite their ranks ahead of proposed peace talks with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s government.

The United States wants to see countries with a stake in the Syrian conflict meet under United Nations auspices in New York on December 18 to push for a ceasefire.

“It’s not locked in yet, but the meeting in Saudi Arabia appears to be very constructive at this point, and we need to wait for the results of that conference,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir said he hoped the various factions can come up with a common vision for Syria while insisting Al Assad should either leave or be forcibly removed from power.

Al Jubeir said the Riyadh convention aimed to put the opposition in a “stronger position” by agreeing on shared principles for future peace negotiations. He added that he wanted to remove any opportunity for critics to accuse the Syrian opposition of being too fragmented and lacking a vision for the future.

Al Jubeir said that the kingdom hopes for better relations with Iran, but added that Tehran’s policies have hindered diplomatic ties. “Iran is playing a negative role in most regional issues,” he said.