Istanbul meeting calls for tribunal to judge crimes in Yemen war

An Istanbul conference under the aegis of Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman on Friday called for concrete measures to end the war in her native Yemen and an international court to judge those charged with crimes during the conflict, AFP reported. The conference was organized by Karman’s foundation. It urged international players, including the UN, to take “deliberate and responsible actions to end the war and restore peace in Yemen.” The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said in late October it aims to re-launch Yemen peace talks “within a month.” Karman, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, was a key figure in the protests that ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh during the Arab Spring uprisings. At the conference, Karman called on Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to end their “unconstructive interference in Yemen and stop supporting terrorist groups and armed militias.” She also called for an end to interference “by the mullahs in Iran to try to control Yemen by supporting Houthi militias.”