Press release

Yemen Foreign Minister visits London

FCO Minister Tobias Ellwood and UK Special Envoy Sir Alan Duncan meet Yemeni Foreign Minister to discuss the situation in Yemen.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Dr Reyed Abdullah is on his first official visit to London for talks on political, security and humanitarian issues in Yemen. He attended a lunch at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosted by Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Tobias Ellwood, and will hold further meetings with international aid agencies and senior Parliamentarians.

Speaking after their meeting, Tobias Ellwood said:

The Governments of the UK and Yemen have strong shared interests in deescalating the ongoing conflict, improving the dire humanitarian situation, and achieving a long-term political solution.

We discussed the importance of humanitarian access to allow essential food, fuel and medical supplies into the country, and the need to implement the United Nations (UN) plan to improve access for commercial shipping. It is important that the Government of Yemen is re-established inside the country and for ministers to resume control over security and local services. We also discussed the need to fully support the UN-led efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire and a mechanism for the withdrawal of forces, release of political prisoners and the resumption of an inclusive political process in accordance with Security Council resolution 2216.

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Published 21 July 2015