Qatar denies mediation between Yemen, Djibouti

Qatar's foreign minister Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jaber al-Thani denied in a press statement any Qatari mediation between Yemen and Djibouti. This denial comes at a time when the Amir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani started on Wednesday an official visit to Yemen for two days in the course of a tour during which he will also visit Djibouti.

Al-Sahwa website, the mouthpiece of the opposition Yemeni coalition party for reforms quoted diplomatic sources in Sanaa as saying that a political crisis is looming in the horizons between Sanaa and Djibouti, without explaining the reason of the crisis. The sources attributed own perception to that the President of Djibouti Ismael Omar Ghella abrogated his visit to Sanaa which was due last week.

The sources said that the visit of the Amir of Qatar to each of Yemen and Djibouti falls in the course of mediation to settle differences between the two states.

A Yemeni diplomatic source indicated last Thursday the postponement of the visit of the President of Djibouti to Yemen which was due last Tuesday. The source said that the reasons of postponement are because of "urgent obligations." Upon his arrival Sheikh Hamad held close door meetings with the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh during which they exchanged views on the development of conditions in the region, especially conditions in occupied Palestine in light of the recent Israeli escalation.

Official sources representing the two sides said that the visit of Sheikh Hamad to Sanaa and the talks he held with the Yemeni President fall in the context of joint consultations and coordination between the two states regarding various challenges facing the Arab situation in the current phase.