Kerry praises Saudi for combatting Al-Qaeda in Yemen

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday praised Saudi Arabia for its “key role” in combatting Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen.

Kerry’s comments were made during a meeting with Saudi’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Paris, where the two top diplomats discussed the Yemeni peace talks between the country’s warring sides held in Kuwait.

“Saudi leadership in making available an operations center and contributing the largest number of forces has been indispensable to recent successes, including most recently in Mukallah,” said US State Department John Kirby.

Last month, the southwestern port city was snatched back from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the militant group’s Yemeni branch, by government forces and Arab coalition troops. Al-Qaeda had held the city for a year.

Kerry and Jubeir also exchanged views regarding the fight against ISIS and the restoration of the fragile Syria ceasefire.

The two top diplomats were attending a meeting alongside representatives of Britain, Germany, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey and the European Union on the Syrian crisis.

The State Department said Kerry and Jubeir “stressed the importance of all sides fully respecting the cessation of hostilities.”