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International FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 Lack of progress at Iranian FM in Pak calls Moscow Syria talks for Yemen peace talks MOSCOW: Talks between the Syrian government and members of the tolerated opposition were set to end yesterday in Moscow with little sign of progress ‘We need to find a political solution’ towards ending the spiraling conflict in the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was due to ISLAMABAD: Iran’s top diplomat met with Pakistan’s prime Yemen’s second-largest city, which was declared a provisional open a final meeting between the two sides but minister yesterday in an effort to push for peace talks to capital by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi before he fled opposition activists said there was little chance of a resolve the crisis in Yemen, where a Saudi-led airstrikes’ cam- to Saudi Arabia. breakthrough after holding two days of talks with the paign supported by Islamabad is battling a power grab by The Houthis have seized much of the country, but both delegation of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Iranian-backed Shiite rebels. Tehran and the rebels deny Iran is arming them. Humanitarian Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Pakistani groups in Yemen say they are running out of supplies and al-Jaafari, headed the government delegation for four Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were to discuss the Yemeni con- have called for a temporary halt to the fighting to allow aid days of meetings with Russian mediators and opposi- flict, state-run Pakistani media reported. Zarif, who arrived in into the country. The World Health Organization said Tuesday tion figures from the National Coordination Islamabad on Wednesday, has said that Iran is ready to facili- at least 560 people have been killed in the past weeks and 1,768 have been wounded, many of them civilians. It said Committee for Democratic Change (NCCDC). But the tate peace talks that would lead to a broad-based government in Yemen. He also called for a cease-fire to allow for humani- another 100,000 have fled their homes. main Western-backed exiled Syrian opposition tarian assistance. Iran dispatched a naval destroyer and another logistic ves- National Coalition stayed away, and another leading “We need to work together in order to put an end to the sel on Wednesday to waters near Yemen as the United States domestic opposition activist was stuck in Damascus crisis in Yemen,” Zarif said. “We need to find a political solution quickened weapons supply to the Saudi-led coalition striking due to a travel ban. in Yemen, a comprehensive political solution leading an inclu- rebels there, underlining how foreign powers are deepening “We will meet for two hours but I do not think this sive government through Yemeni dialogue.” their involvement in the conflict. Iran’s English-language state will be enough to make any advances,” opposition broadcaster Press TV quoted Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari as figure Samir Aita said. “Yesterday Jaafari presented Saudi contributions saying the ships would be part of an anti-piracy campaign general points that include some that are not really Zarif’s visit comes as Pakistan’s parliament is debating “safeguarding naval routes for vessels in the region.” acceptable to the opposition,” Aita said, citing a con- whether to contribute forces to the Saudi-led air campaign In Pakistan, Zarif also called for a ceasefire to allow aid and demnation of Jordanian but not Iranian involvement against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The airstrikes campaign was in humanitarian assistance. But the political solution is “up to the in Syria. its 14th day yerterday. The airstrikes against the Houthis and Yemenis,” he said. “We can only facilitate as neighbors, as their allies, including loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah countries in the region, as countries with some influence one Saleh, have so far failed to stop the rebels’ advance on Aden, way or another,” Zarif said. — AP Opposition squabbles Moscow’s latest attempt to bring government and opposition together comes amid continuing strikes by the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, with Canada on Wednesday sending two F- 18s to strike IS positions near the Syrian city of Raqqa. The talks in Moscow followed a similar round of meetings between the government and opposition in late January that failed to achieve any concrete results. Another member of the opposition delegation, Randa Kassis, blamed divisions within the squab- bling opposition themselves for hampering any progress. “There is no work as a group. There are clans that try to impose their ideas on the others,” she said. “The regime then profits from our weak- ness.” Analysts said the meeting was designed to help Russia-a firm ally of the Assad regime-bolster its profile as a peace broker in the region. The opposition National Coalition accused Russia of seeking to use the talks to bolster Assad, and declined to attend. Most of Syria’s opposition in exile has made it clear that Assad must step down in any deal to end the conflict that began with demonstrations against his rule in March 2011. An Arab diplomat following the developments had told AFP that a proposal now being floated would see Assad stay in power for two or three more years to prepare a transition, given Russian and US fears about the consequences if his regime collapsed suddenly. The window for any such agreement is fairly small, with Washington report- edly insisting that any deal be signed before cam- paigning for the 2016 presidential election begins in earnest in the autumn. — AFP RAWALPINDI: In this photograph received from the Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) yesterday shows Pakistani Army Chief General Raheel Sharif (right) talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during a meeting. — AFP US warns Tehran on backing rebels ADEN: Washington warned yesterday it would not stand we’ve traced it and know this,” Kerry told PBS television. Huthis must end. “This move is not acceptable in the by while Tehran supports rebels in Yemen, as Iran’s “Iran needs to recognize that the United States is not going region and I would warn that they must stop these crimi- supreme leader denounced Saudi-led air strikes as “crimi- to stand by while the region is destabilized or while people nal acts in Yemen,” he said on his website. President nal acts”. In the most direct American criticism yet of engage in overt warfare across lines, international bound- Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled Aden for Saudi Arabia dur- Tehran’s backing for the Shiite Huthi rebels, Secretary of aries in other countries.” ing the Huthi advance and the city has since seen heavy State John Kerry said Washington would not accept foreign Washington has backed the air campaign which began clashes between pro- and anti-government forces. Riyadh interference in Yemen. last month as the rebels advanced on Yemen’s main has accused Tehran, the major Shiite power, of backing “There have been-there are, obviously-flights coming southern city of Aden after seizing Sanaa. Iran’s Ayatollah the rebels in a bid to establish a pro-Iran state on its from Iran. Every single week there are flights from Iran and Ali Khamenei warned that the campaign against the doorstep. — AFP .

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