Simon Shercliff

:: Simon Shercliff, the British Ambassador to Yemen, based in Saudi and criss-crossing the region, said that UK has been playing a vigorous role in trying to help achieve a political solution in Yemen.

Shercliff, who took over as Ambassador in February this year, told Al Arabiya: “We have never stopped working tirelessly for a political settlement in Yemen. The crisis is Yemeni-inspired, and the solution must, therefore, be Yemeni-inspired. Therefore, it is not for us or any of the international actors to prescribe exactly what the solution will be, but it is very much our role to encourage and coerce all of the different parties to come to the table with an open mind.”

“By definition it is very unhelpful for any party to escalate with further military attacks on the basis of a response to anything, so we, as our prime minister has said often, take Gulf security extremely seriously. Gulf security is our security, so we understand fully the impact on Saudi Arabia’s national security when missiles go over the border and we call upon all parties to deescalate as much as possible, as quickly as possible, so we can get back to the negotiating table.”