Qatar praised for help on Yemen crisis

US secretary of state John Kerry praised Doha for its role in Yemen when he met with Qatari foreign minister Khalid Al Attiyah in Washington on Monday

WASHINGTON // US secretary of state John Kerry has praised Qatar for its help in trying to resolve the crisis in Yemen, amid hints the US is in contact with Shiite rebels through go-betweens.

Meeting with Qatari foreign minister Khalid Al Attiyah at the US state department on Monday, Mr Kerry said he was grateful for the “many ways in which Qatar, the emir, and Dr Attiyah have made themselves available in order to be of assistance”.

“Most recently, they were particularly helpful with respect to Yemen and our efforts in the last few days to deal with some of the adjustments necessary to what has been happening there,” he said.

The Houthi militia on Sunday set a three-day deadline for political parties to resolve the power vacuum in Yemen left after the president and prime minister offered to resign last month.

The group’s lightning offensive when they seized the presidential palace and key government buildings on January 20, plunged the country deeper into crisis and prompted US-backed President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and his premier to tender their resignations.

It has complicated the US fight against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) branded by Washington as one of the terrorist organisation’s most dangerous branches.

When asked what Mr Kerry meant, Dr Attiyah said: “We’ve been closely talking to our friends about the GCC initiative and how we can enhance the solution.”

In 2011, the GCC urged the then president to sign a power transfer plan ending the country’s political turmoil.

But the new crisis has raised fears that Yemen, which shares a border with Saudi Arabia, could become a failed state.

Last week, the Pentagon said US officials were holding discussions with representatives of the Shiite militia but were not sharing intelligence on AQAP.

“Given the political uncertainty, it’s fair to say that US government officials are in communication with various parties in Yemen about what is a very fluid and complex political situation,” said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.

The Wall Street Journal last week reported that US officials were in touch with Houthi fighters largely through intermediaries.

"We have to take pains not to end up inflaming the situation by inadvertently firing on Houthi fighters," a senior US official told the Journal.

“They’re not our military objective. It’s AQAP and we have to stay focused on that.”

* Agence France-Presse