On September 23, President of the Republic of Yemen A. Saleh returned to Sana’a have finished the period of rehabilitation in Saudi Arabia after injuries received in assassination attack on June 3 of this year. Upon his arrival he made a statement in favor of dialogue with engaged Yemeni forces to agree on the parameters of the transfer of power and holding early parliamentary and presidential elections in the country.

This proposal was accepted "in arms" by the representatives of the radical opposition, which continues to insist on the immediate and unconditional resignation of the President. As a result, the political situation in the country is on the brink of crisis, there are acts of violence committed by both sides of the conflict that leads only to new victims among the civilian population.

We attach importance to the statement on Yemen accepted by the UN Security Council on September 24. We share the concern expressed in the document on serious deterioration of economic and humanitarian situation in the country. Deterioration of the security situation including the terrorist threat proceed from "Al-Qaeda" also causes deep concern. We attach particular importance to the call of the UN Security Council to start the process of political settlement headed by the Yemenis themselves. We presume that this approach should be applied to other problematic situations in the region.

We call on all Yemeni political forces again to show restraint and prudence in order to take advantage of the outlined pause in fighting for keeping the prospect of the non-confrontational overcoming the Yemeni crisis on the ways marked in the GCC initiative and in the context of the existing negotiation developments.

The recommendation for Russian citizens to refrain from any visits to Yemen till complete normalization of the situation in this country remains in force.

30/09/2011

With concern we note that on the background of these events separatist tendencies are growing in the country. There is a real threat to the unity and territorial integrity of Yemen.

In this regard we strongly urge all Yemeni political factions to renounce violence as a way to achieve their goals and to display restraint and prudence. Today there is no more urgent task than to stop bloodshed and to establish a ceasefire. This would start the practical dialogue to resolve the situation and preserve the unity of the country in the framework of ways outlined in the GCC initiative and with the use of the existing negotiation developments. We reaffirm Russia's support for the efforts of the international mediators - GCC Secretary-General Abdul Latif al-Zayyani and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Jamal Bin Omar.

According to development of the situation the Russian Foreign Ministry is undertaking additional measures to ensure the safety of all Russian employees and citizens who are working and live in Yemen.

Conflicting reports are coming out of Sana’a about the mass demonstrations that took place on September 18 in the Yemeni capital. Pro-opposition media claim that the use of force by security forces and government supporters left 26 demonstrators dead and hundreds more wounded. Official circles of the country assert that armed demonstrators attacked the forces of law enforcement “who were protecting the civilian population.” According to the Russian Embassy in Sana'a, there are no Russian citizens among the victims there.

This new flare-up of internal political confrontation in the Republic of Yemen prompts us to urge all the parties involved to renounce mutual violence that is pushing the country into an abyss of armed conflict. The only reasonable way out in the current realities is a direct dialogue between the authorities and the opposition in light of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s decree of September 12 granting Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi the right to negotiate a transfer of power, and the existing accords on the realization of the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative.

This is especially true in view of the fact that amid the worsening political crisis in Yemen, the economic situation continues to rapidly deteriorate, which leads to frequent interruptions of electricity, fuel, food and medicines supply to the population.

The Embassy of Russia in the country is taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of its staff and Russian citizens in the RY. We reiterate the Ministry’s advice for Russian citizens to refrain from any travel to the Republic of Yemen in this connection.