Guterres and GCC chief Albudaiwi condemn Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in New York meeting
Yemen Herald News 
NEW YORK, United States — UN Secretary-General António Guterres and GCC chief Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia at a meeting here Saturday.
The two men met on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, as world leaders gathered in New York for the annual high-level week.
They condemned what they called the deliberate targeting of civilian objects, according to an account issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretariat General.
The attacks posed a serious threat to regional peace and security, the two officials said in that account.
The meeting also covered cooperation between the United Nations and the six-member bloc, and ways to strengthen it.
Guterres and Albudaiwi reviewed geopolitical developments and diplomatic efforts on regional issues, the secretariat said.
Guterres praised the progress of GCC member states and the role they play in promoting stability, according to the same account.
The GCC groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. Its secretariat is based in Riyadh.
The condemnation followed a separate statement by the UN Security Council a day earlier.
Council members on Friday called on the Houthis to halt their military escalation. The press statement required the agreement of all 15 members.
Members said the attacks had affected civilian and energy infrastructure and had caused civilian casualties, including women and children.
They stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of commercial vessels and their crews, and of respecting navigational rights and freedoms under international law.
The Council also called for full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2216, which was adopted in 2015.
That resolution imposed a targeted arms embargo on the Houthi leadership and demanded that the group withdraw from areas it had seized, including Sanaa.
Saudi Civil Defense issued five alerts on Saturday: two in Riyadh, two in Al-Kharj and one in Farasan.
Authorities did not identify the nature of the threats. They reported no casualties and no damage.
Alerts had covered seven Saudi cities and governorates the previous day.
Jordan and Bahrain issued their own condemnations the same day.
Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Fouad Al-Majali said Amman stood in “absolute” solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
Jordan supported the measures taken to protect Saudi sovereignty, security, stability and citizens, Al-Majali said.
Amman said Saudi air defences had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh.
It condemned attempts to strike civilians and civilian infrastructure in Baysh, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu, describing them as violations of Saudi sovereignty, international law and the UN Charter.
Bahrain condemned what it described as an escalation in Houthi attacks and backed Saudi measures to protect its territory, citizens and residents.
Manama urged the Security Council to take a firm position on the attacks and to hold those responsible to account.
Saudi authorities said Thursday that one person had been killed and two injured by debris from a Houthi drone intercepted over Taif.
The Houthis said afterwards that they had “foiled” what they called “criminal attempts” by Saudi Arabia in Sanaa. They gave no details.
Saudi authorities did not link that claim to the alerts.
The Houthis said this week that they had attacked Riyadh and an Aramco site in Yanbu.
Footage released by AFPTV on Friday showed a fire at an Aramco fuel depot near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
The group announced what it called a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20.
Saudi Arabia has led a coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government since March 2015. The Houthis have held Sanaa and several Yemeni provinces since September 2014.
Fighting inside Yemen has intensified over the same period.
A government displacement unit said nearly 147,000 people were displaced in the first 18 days of September.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its March plan that more than 22 million people in Yemen need assistance.
OCHA put the number of acutely food insecure at 18.3 million and the number of internally displaced at 5.2 million.
The office sought 2.16 billion dollars this year to reach 12 million people.
Guterres has repeatedly called for a negotiated settlement in Yemen. UN-led efforts have not produced a nationwide ceasefire.
Other governments and blocs also responded to the escalation during the week.
Türkiye’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said Ankara would raise Saudi military needs with Pakistan.
Hungary’s foreign ministry condemned the escalation in Yemen and Saudi Arabia on Friday.
The US State Department warned of the risk of further escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc’s naval mission Aspides had raised its alert level in the Red Sea.
Aspides escorts commercial shipping through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Reuters and Axios reported this week that US diplomats had met Houthi representatives in Muscat.
Oman has mediated between the two sides at several points in the war.
The war began after the Houthis seized Sanaa in September 2014 and the internationally recognised government moved to Aden.
Saudi Arabia intervened at the government’s request the following March.
The GCC secretariat did not say whether the two officials set a date to meet again.
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