Rashad al-Alimi, who has close ties with Saudi Arabia, says the council will deal with “challenges in all areas of Yemen without discrimination and without exception.”
The head of Yemen’s new presidential council said in his first speech since the Saudi-backed president delegated power to the body this week that he would end the seven-year war through a peace process.
“The Guiding Council promises the people to end the war and achieve peace through a comprehensive peace process that guarantees the Yemeni people all their aspirations,” Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address on Friday.
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is based in Riyadh, delegated power to the council and sacked his deputy on Thursday, as Saudi Arabia struggled to revive an anti-Houthi rebel alliance amid United Nations-led efforts to strengthen the peace negotiations.
Al-Alimi, who has close ties to both Riyadh and Yemen’s prominent bloc, the Islah party, said in his speech the council will work to address “challenges in all areas of Yemen without discrimination and without exception.” .
The war has killed tens of thousands, devastated the economy and brought Yemen to the brink of famine. The conflict is widely viewed as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis, allied with Iran, say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
‘Desperate Try’
Riyadh, which is fighting for an exit from the war in Yemen, has called on the council to negotiate “a final and comprehensive settlement” with the Houthis under the auspices of the United Nations.
There was no immediate Houthi reaction to al-Alimi’s speech.
Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam responded to the formation of the council on Thursday by calling the move a farce and a “desperate attempt to restructure the ranks of the mercenaries to urge them to escalate further.”
Saudi Arabia announced $3 billion in financial aid to the Saudi-backed government following Hadi’s announcement.
Gulf Cooperation Council ministers have expressed their support for the council and the opening of negotiations with the Houthis under UN supervision “to reach a final and comprehensive political settlement”.
The warring factions in Yemen agreed on a two-month ceasefire that began last Saturday.