Time to double down on political process in Yemen: Gargash

Washington - The minister said that the UAE and the rest of coalition will remain to continue to assist Yemeni forces.

The UAE always understood the challenges in Yemen and there is "no easy victory and there will be no easy peace", Dr. Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, has said.

In an op-ed published in The Washington Post on July 22, 2019, Dr. Gargash stated that as the country redeploys its forces in Yemen, it is seeking to "double down on the political process", adding that the "Yemeni parties, the Houthis specifically, should see this move as a confidence-building measure to create new momentum to end the conflict".

The UAE minister went on to affirm that the "UAE and the rest of coalition are not leaving Yemen", and will remain to continue to advise and assist local Yemeni forces. "We will respond to attacks against the coalition and against neighbouring states. With international partners, we will stay vigilant in securing access to critical waterways."

Gargash also highlighted the coalition's success in preventing Iran from gaining a strategic maritime chokehold in the region, hence protecting the freedom of navigation between Asia and the Mediterranean through the Bab El Mandeb strait, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

He also noted the success of effectively neutralising the threat from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), "one of the terrorist group's most dangerous franchises."

• MENA