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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Riyadh – Omar al-Badwi and Abdulhadi Habtor

Yemen Consultations Make Significant Progress

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

The intra-Yemeni consultations, currently underway in Riyadh, have made significant progress in all issues on their agenda.

The consultations kicked off in the Saudi capital on Wednesday and they are being sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

On Sunday, the gatherers discussed the challenges facing the legitimate government and Yemenis and the best ways to address them.

GCC Ambassador to Yemen Sarhan Al-Minaikher said the government met on Monday with representatives of the six tracks under discussion at the talks.

They first tackled the political track and then the economic and security ones. The remaining tracks are media, social and humanitarian affairs.

The economy is among the issues that most concern the Yemeni people and they will find the needed support from their Gulf brothers, stressed Al-Minaikher at a press conference.

He confirmed that progress has been achieved on all issues, saying the talks have been marked by consensus among the gatherers.

Among the issues discussed was the impact global tensions will have on imports in Yemen, especially in wake of the war in Ukraine and the repercussions on grain production.

Moreover, he added that Yemen "has not and will not accept to remain outside the GCC organization. The country is a main part and natural extension of the Arabian Peninsula."

He said the gatherers were determined on bolstering state institutions, adding however, that no solutions have been reached.

He explained that the gatherers were still at the stage of addressing obstacles and problems, while solutions will be addressed in the coming days.

The consultations are set to conclude on April 7.

Al-Minaikher stated that the consultations were not an alternative to the United Nations negotiations. This is not a platform to exert pressure, rather it is a place to bring together brothers so that they can reach agreement in order to achieve stability in Yemen.

Leader of the national resistance, Tariq Saleh said the consultations were a beacon of hope for all national powers as they confront "the forces of backwardness" - the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

He hoped the consultations will "at least reform the legitimate institution."

He explained: "We have said that the weakness in confronting the Houthis stems from the failure in unifying the forces of the republic and mismanagement of political, economic and military affairs."

"Everyone is in agreement on the need for reform," he remarked.

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