Yemen on the agenda as UAE crown prince visits Berlin

The United Arab Emirates' Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed the war in Yemen when they met in Berlin on Tuesday, according to the president's office. Their discussion included the role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the conflict, it added. No further details were given.

Ahead of the meeting, Green party lawmaker Claudia Roth, vice-president of the Bundestag, told journalists: "President Steinmeier should find unequivocal words and make it abundantly clear to the crown prince that Germany and Europe expect a fundamental foreign policy shift and a rapid end to the war in Yemen."  

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is scheduled to have dinner with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday.

The sheikh is one of the most influential and feared in the region, Roth said. "As deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he has access to enormous financial and military capacities, which he unscrupulously uses to support autocratic and rulers that oppose human rights in countries such as Egypt, Libya and Sudan," she said.  

The United Arab Emirates was a driving force behind the war in Yemen so "the crown prince is thus jointly responsible for what is currently the largest humanitarian catastrophe on this planet."  

The UAE participates in a Saudi-led coalition  supporting the Yemeni government in its fight against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.    (dpa)