‘Houthis won’t be allowed to take over Yemen’

BEIJING — Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said on Wednesday the Iranian-allied Houthi militias would not be allowed to take over Yemen. Speaking to Reuters in Beijing, Jubeir said the ball was in the Houthis’ court to resume peace talks. “What is certain, not questionable, certain, they will not be allowed to take over Yemen. Period. So the legitimate government will be defended,” he said. “The chance they have is to enter the political process, reach an agreement ... for the benefit of all Yemenis including the Houthis,” the minister said. Speaking earlier to students at a Beijing university, Jubeir lambasted Iran. “We see Iran supporting Houthis in Yemen and trying to take over the government, supply weapons to the Houthis, smuggle explosives to Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,” he said. “We wish we could be as good neighbors like before the 1979 revolution,” he said. “It’s up to Iran to mend its behavior,” Jubeir added. In Riyadh, Yemeni Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Abdul Malik Al-Mikhlafi reiterated his government’s willingness to participate in any new consultations with the rebels for peace in Yemen. Deputy US Ambassador to Yemen Richard Riley welcomed the government’s initial ideas that emerged from Jeddah last Thursday after a quadrilateral meeting, which included foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, US and Britain. Al-Mikhlafi stressed the legitimate government’s keenness to reach peaceful solutions under the agreed terms of reference from Gulf initiative, comprehensive national dialogue and the UN Security Council resolution No: 2216. Meanwhile, Yemen’s minister of local administration Abdulraqeb Saif Fateh said that the reconstruction of Yemen could cost $15 billion according to World Bank estimates. Fateh, who is also chairman of Yemen’s High Relief Committee, spoke near the close of a two-day workshop on “post-conflict recovery and reconstruction” in Yemen. The workshop was attended by international donors and organized by Yemen’s government and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The six-member GCC in December pledged a global conference on the reconstruction of Yemen after a political solution to the war is reached. — Agencies