15 February 2019•Update: 15 February 2019
MARIB, Yemen
Yemen’s position on the Palestinian issue is "unchanging and nonnegotiable", the country’s foreign minister said Thursday.
Khaled Al-Yamani made the remarks following the conclusion of a two-day conference in Warsaw, Poland titled "Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East", where he drew criticism for sitting next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi's position on the Palestinian cause, people and leaders is unchangeable and nonnegotiable," Al-Yamani said on Twitter.
Al-Yamani recalled Yemen's leading role in bringing the issue of President Donald Trump's controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem to the UN General Assembly in December 2017.
He said the reason for attending the meeting in Warsaw was not "to discuss the Palestinian issue but to bring the international community together against Iran's expansionist policy in Yemen".
On sitting beside Netanyahu, Al-Yamani said "organizing teams are liable for protocol errors. This is the case during international meetings".
Pointing out reactions to photographs in which he was sitting next to Netanyahu, Al-Yamani said there were efforts to portray the situation differently based on political motivations.
Foreign ministers from around 60 countries, including Arab nations such as Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Tunisia attended the conference, which was hosted by the United States and Poland.
Reporting by Ali Uveyda:Writing by Sibel Ugurlu
