August 19, 2014
The Group of Ten Ambassadors and the countries we represent want to see a stable, secure, and prosperous Yemen. The people of Yemen, who voiced their desire for political change in 2011, demanded a new Yemen in which no longer individuals or groups impose their will by force on others. They deserve no less and yearn for economic progress, access to basic services, and the elimination of corruption.
We believe that these desires can best be delivered at this stage by a coalition government committed to these principles and goals.
The GCC Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism set out an agreed roadmap to achieve that political transition, culminating in national elections. President Hadi has our full support in bringing together a consensus government to help achieve that goal.
We want all political parties and groups to participate peacefully in the transition and to respect the will of the people. That includes the Houthis. We have been extremely concerned by your recent statements, which have been antagonistic, militaristic, and disrespectful of this transition process, as well as of the authority of the legally established Yemeni government. Threats of the kind you have made against the government are not a way to demonstrate any validity of your claims.
We therefore call on you to respect the maintenance of law and order. Any action aimed to incite or provoke unrest and violence is unacceptable, and will be strongly condemned by the international community.
We furthermore reiterate the demand made by the Security Council on 11 July that the Houthis withdraw and relinquish territory acquired by force and hand over heavy weapons and ammunition pillaged from military facilities to the national authorities.
We ask you to work in a good spirit with the government to implement quickly the outcomes of the National Dialogue, a process in which Houthi representatives made important contributions. We would like to see a return to the positive contributions made by the Houthis.
We believe that you are able to put the interests of Yemen ahead of other ambitions. We also believe that your constituencies are a part of Yemen’s future and have a role to play in national political life, but we demand that you seek political means to express yourselves, not through force, but through transparent, peaceful participation in Yemeni political life as a political party. Yemen has had enough bloodshed for many lifetimes.
Signed
Head of GCC Mission – Sana’a Ambassador Saad M. Alarify
Kuwait Ambassador Fahed Al Maya
Oman Ambassador Bader Almantheri
French Ambassador Franck Gellet
British Ambassador Jane Marriott
Russian Ambassador Vladimir Dedushkin
EU Head of Mission Bettina Muscheidt
US Chargé Karen Sasahara
Saudi Chargé Dr Hazza
UAE Chargé Khalid al-Hosani
Chinese Chargé Zhou Min-Liang Tan
