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UN urges immediate halt to hostilities in Yemen, calls on all sides to abide by commitments

20 January 2015 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his grave concern today about the deteriorating situation in Yemen, calling for an immediate end to all hostilities and the restoration of full authority to legitimate Government institutions.

Mr. Ban, in a statement issued through his spokesperson, also condemned the recent kidnapping of Ahmed Awadh Bin Mubarak, Director of the Office of the President, and demanded the official's immediate release.

The statement was issued amid reports that in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, the presidential palace has been taken over amid renewed clashes and that the Prime Minister's residence was also under attack from the street.

"The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Yemen," according to the statement," which added that the UN chief deplores the heavy fighting between Ansarallah armed groups and Yemeni presidential guards throughout Sana'a.

"The Secretary-General calls on all sides to immediately cease all hostilities, exercise maximum restraint, and take the necessary steps to restore full authority to the legitimate Government institutions," the statement said.

The Secretary-General urged all sides to remain fully engaged with his Special Adviser on Yemen Jamal Benomar so as to enable him to continue to exercise the Secretary-General's good offices in close cooperation with the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the UN Security Council, according to the statement.

"All sides must abide by their stated commitments to resolve differences through peaceful means to ensure the full implementation of the Peace and National Partnership Agreement in accordance with the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference and the GCC Initiative and Implementation Mechanism," according to the statement.

"He also reminds all sides of their obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions," it said.

Despite the formation of a new Government on 7 November aimed at ending a period of political turbulence and bringing about a full transition towards democracy, Yemen continues to be plagued by violence and mass demonstrations.

Deploring the ongoing turmoil, and lack of international attention the situation has received thus far, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently noted several bomb attacks in the last three weeks have killed a total of 86 people, with the most recent, a car bomb detonated outside a police college in Sana'a the most deadly, killing 37 people.