The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously approved a resolution drafted on the conflict in Yemen, calling for parties involved to negotiate an end to the crisis.
All parties must “accelerate inclusive UN-brokered negotiations” and set a date for a constitutional referendum and elections,” read the UNSC resolution, drafted by Britain and Jordan, after a meeting late on Sunday.
The 15-member world body further called on the Houthi movement to “withdraw their forces from government institutions.”
Jordan Ambassador to the UN Dina Kawar said, “We need to prevent Yemen from sliding into the abyss.”
The resolution also called for the release of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi who resigned last month, as well as his cabinet from house arrest.
The resolution came after foreign ministers of the six [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council member states called on the UNSC to consider military intervention under the UN’s Chapter 7 over the worsening security situation in the southwestern Asian country.
The (Islamic) revolution
In September 2014, the Ansarullah fighters gained control of Sana’a, following a four-day battle with army forces loyal to General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the half-brother of the country’s former dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Ansarullah(Yemeni Hezbollah movement) revolutionaries say the Yemeni government has been incapable of properly running the affairs of the country and providing security.
Before gaining control of the capital, the Houthis had set a deadline for the political parties to put aside differences and fill the power vacuum, but the deadline was missed without any change in the impoverished country’s political scene.
Intensification of crisis
After the deadline, the United Nations hosted a new round of talks between political factions in Yemen.
During the talks, most political factions in Yemen reportedly agreed to establish an interim presidential council to administer the country’s affairs.
Based on the agreement, the Houthi movement released a constitutional declaration on Transitional National Council to replace the country’s parliament.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the revolutionaries’ leader, recently warned that the interests of foreign powers in Yemen would be in danger if the political vacuum prolongs.
He added that the constitutional decree is necessary in order to save Yemen from collapse.
On January 22, President Hadi and the cabinet of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah resigned over pressure from Ansarullah revolutionaries. The revolutionaries say Hadi is a puppet figure and must go.
Yemen’s Shia Houthi movement draws its name from the tribe of its founding leader, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi.
The movement played a key role in the popular revolution that forced Saleh to step down after 33 years of rule.
Foreign reactions
In the past few days, many western countries including Italy, France, Britain, Germany, and the United States as well as Arab Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have closed their embassies and evacuated all their diplomatic staff in Yemen over security concerns in the crisis-hit country.
The Arab League has announced that the body would hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday “to review the recent dangerous developments on the Yemeni scene.”
Arab League deputy head, Ahmed bin Helli, told reporters at the body’s headquarters in Cairo on Sunday that it is up to foreign ministers of the Arab League to take “an Arab stand” after reviewing all aspects of the situation in Yemen.
Al-Qaeda militants have stepped up their attacks on Yemen’s security forces. The militants have been engaged in battles with the Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.
