UK to present UN resolution demanding Yemen ceasefire

The UK is to present a UN resolution demanding a ceasefire in Yemen, the British ambassador to the war-torn country said on Friday.

"We have decided to put forward a draft Security Council resolution on Yemen calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a resumption of the political process," British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters on Friday.

The UK government has come under pressure to halt weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, a close ally that has been leading a coalition against the country's Houthi rebels.

Tobias Ellwood, the UK's minister for the Middle East and North Africa, met with Yemen's president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and Saudi officials on Friday, stressing the need for a "cessation of hostilities on both sides".

After meeting Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Ellwood said that, as the UK and Saudi Arabia are "partners" they were able to discuss "all issues including Yemen and the region".

Ellwood travelled to Riyadh in the midst of growing pressure over an attack last Sunday, thought to have been launched by Saudi Arabia, killed over 140 people at a funeral ceremony in the capital.

Ellwood said he had held "frank and detailed meetings" with Saudi and Yemeni officials about the attack.

The UK has called on Saudi Arabia to complete a full investigation into the attack, which it denies being behind. It has said that it may halt arms sales to the kingdom after the results of the investigation are made public.

Reports of the UK's ceasefire resolution also come amid a regional escalation in the Yemen conflict, with Iran - which backs the Houthis - sending two warships to the Yemeni coast and the US launching strikes against the rebels.

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