UK welcomes progress of peace talks on Yemen

United Kingdom has welcomed the progress of UN facilitated peace talks for Yemen and the intention of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi's government to extend a ceasefire until 28 December.

In an emailed press release, British Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to respect the ceasefire in order to improve access to urgent medical and humanitarian aid.

The talks were facilitated by the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and started on 15 December.

Mr Ellwood said, "It is encouraging that positive progress has been made in the peace talks. I spoke to President Hadi on Saturday and welcomed the intention of his government to extend the ceasefire until 28 December. I encourage all parties to the conflict to respect the ceasefire in order to improve access to urgent medical and humanitarian aid."

"The UK will continue our support for the UN-led political process and we are the fourth largest donor of aid, more than doubling our assistance to GBP75 million over the last year," Mr Tobias said.
Source: WAM