on Monday 28 November, 2022

Jordan's King Abdullah meets Yemen's presidential council head in Amman

Jordan's King Abdullah II with Yemeni President Rashad Al Alimi in Amman on Monday. AFP
by : Yemen Details

Jordan's King Abdullah II met the head of Yemen's presidential council, Rashad Al Alimi, in Amman on Monday and told him the kingdom supported efforts to end the country's civil war, the official Jordanian news agency reported.

The agency quoted the king as saying that it is "necessary to end the crisis in Yemen in a way that guarantees its unity and stability, and the safety of its territory".

The king "noted Jordan's support to the efforts under way to renew the Yemeni truce".

The meeting covered "the friendly ties between the two countries and the latest regional and international developments", the agency said.

The headquarters of the office of Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, is in Amman, a city which hosts about 14,000 Yemeni refugees. Jordan is also a member of the Arab Coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 on the side of the internationally recognised government. But the kingdom has stopped short of criticising the country's Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran.

Mr Grundberg last week told the UN Security Council he was trying to renew the truce that expired last month and invite warring parties to initiate talks on a path towards a settlement of the eight-year conflict.

He said he had outlined options to the internationally recognised government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels, and had been in regular contact on the issues that prevented an extension of the ceasefire.

Yemen has since April been led by a Presidential Council, formed with support from Saudi Arabia and headed by Mr Al Alimi.

As a result of the now expired truce, Amman was in May the destination for the first Yemeni passenger plane to fly out of Sanaa in six years.