Saudi crown prince receives phone call from UN Secretary General

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call from UN Secretary General António Guterres, the Saudi Press Agency reported on early Thursday.

During the phone call, Guterres expressed gratitude for the Kingdom’s efforts to achieve a truce between parties of the crisis in Yemen. He also praised Saudi Arabia’s continuous efforts to reach a political solution to the Yemeni crisis.

The two sides discussed the latests regional and international developments and the UN’s efforts toward them.

The Gulf Cooperation Council last month invited all Yemeni political, tribal and religious leaders, journalists, activists, economists and the heads of nongovernmental organizations to join unprecedented talks in the Saudi capital under its aegis to examine and propose solutions to the country’s problems.

With the exception of the Iran-backed Houthis, who turned down the invitation, hundreds of people engaged in the talks to draw up a road map for bringing peace and stability to war-torn Yemen.

The most important outcome of the consultations was the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council, a body of eight people, led by Rashad Al-Alimi and comprising Yemeni leaders representing different parties, including separatists and Saleh’s supporters.

On April 7, former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi passed powers to the new council and empowered it to run the country and negotiate with the Houthis.