The Latest: Yemen says war wipes out decades of development

Yemen’s foreign minister says that less than a year of fighting in his country has wiped out decades of development, while the U.N. chief in a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has called for an immediate cease-fire in the Yemen conflict.

 

Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin told at U.N. gathering of world leaders that Houthi rebels who seized large parts of the Arab world’s poorest country have not abided by U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted earlier this year. One resolution demanded that the Houthis immediately give up control of government institutions.

 

A Saudi-led coalition supported by the United States has carried out months of airstrikes that have drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups, who say many civilians have been killed. Meanwhile, a coalition blockade has kept most aid from reaching a country that even before the fighting imported 90 percent of its food and fuel.

 

Ban Ki-moon in his meeting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir again called for “increased humanitarian access.”

 

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