The US called for a meeting on the Middles East crisis in Warsaw, Poland, which is an opportunity to send a “unified message” to Iran on its disturbing activities in the region, stated UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat during his stay in New York, Gargash supported the American initiative to hold a meeting in Warsaw to discuss Middle East crises and discussed the “historic visit” of Pope Francis to the UAE which aims to “break the stereotype” formed in recent years about Islam.
The Minister indicated that this will be “the first papal visit to the Arabian peninsula and the Arabian Gulf”, pointing out that the pontiff will hold a mass with the participation of thousands of Christians residing in UAE and the region.
Pope Francis is also expected to meet with Sheikh of Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayeb.
Discussing Yemen issue, the Minister indicated that he feels optimistic about 2019 and expected it to be better than 2018, adding “there is an agreement that the developments of Stockholm are a historic agreement between the Yemeni parties”.
“Violence will decline in Yemen in 2019,” Gargash hoped.
However, he warned that Houthis have repeatedly violated the cessation of military operations, calling on the international community, especially the Security Council, to embark on the operational steps.
Operational measures of the agreement can’t be established if Stockholm consultations were not firmly implemented.
Countries of the coalition to support legitimacy “do not want to launch an attack on Hodeidah port and do not want the military escalation in Yemen,” asserted Gargash.
While in New York, Gargash met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss issues related to the implementation of the Stockholm consultations.
After the meeting, the Minister voiced his concerns about the possibility of an escalation of violence on the ground as a result of Houthis provocations. Gargash urged the UN and the international community to exercise their influence in pressuring Houthis to abide by the ceasefire.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Minister referred to the Arab consultative meeting held in Amman, Jordan, with the participation of foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan, hoping to take more positive steps to strengthen Arab coordination to reduce increasing regional interventions in the Arab region.
Earlier, Reuters reported that Gargash denied that his country had targeted “friendly countries” or US citizens in a cyberspying program.
Gargash acknowledged the country has a “cyber capability,” but denied targeting US citizens or countries with which it has good relations.
“We live in a very difficult part of the world. We have to protect ourselves...but we don’t target friendly countries and we don’t target American citizens.”
