The UN Security Council resolution, which threatens "further steps" if violence does not end, does not fall under Chapter 7, which includes the use of force. It also calls for end to foreign interference.

New York (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The United Nations Security Council called on Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militia to withdraw from government institutions, release Yemen's president, prime minister and other cabinet members from house arrest and engage in negotiations with the United Nations.

The British- and Jordanian-drafted resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the 15-nation Security Council on Sunday, also calls for an end to foreign interference and threatened "further steps" if the violence does not stop.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation bloc comprising energy-rich Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates), had urged the Security Council to adopt a resolution under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which allows decisions to be enforced with economic sanctions or force. However, the approved UN resolution is not under Chapter 7.

The United Nations has warned that Yemen is collapsing. Pro-Iranian Shia Muslim Houthi fighters have sidelined the central government after seizing the capital Sanaa in September and expanding across Yemen.

Since then, al Qaeda and other Sunni Muslim militants have stepped up their attacks. Yemen is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the most active terrorist organisations in Yemen and internationally.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in several cities on Saturday against the Houthi movement. Recent clashes between Houthis and Sunnis left 26 dead in a southern mountainous region.

The Security Council resolution "deplores actions taken by the Houthis to dissolve parliament and take over Yemen's government institutions, including [by means of] acts of violence."

It demands the Houthis engage in good faith in UN-brokered negotiations and stop undermining the political transition and the security of Yemen.

It "calls on all member states to refrain from external interference which seeks to foment conflict and instability and instead to support the political transition."

It also "demands that all parties in Yemen cease all armed hostilities against the people and the legitimate authorities of Yemen and relinquish the arms seized from Yemen's military and security institutions."

• yemen
• united
• nations
• civil
• war
• houthis