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Britian will present the a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire in Yemen following the deadly air strike on a funeral ceremony, the British ambassador said 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.

The draft is expected to be circulated to the 15 members of the Security Council on Thursday with a vote to be held in the coming days.

The decision to seek a formal resolution came after Russia blocked a Security Council statement drafted by Britain condemning the air strike on a funeral procession that killed more than 140 people, apparently carried out by the Saudi-led coalition.

In response to the attack on the funeral, a US warship in the Red Sea was targeted by a missile fired from territory held by the Huthi rebels. They have denied any involvement.

The United States, which has said it will review its participation in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, has launched cruise missiles at Huthi sites in retaliation.

One of the poorest countries in the Arab world, Yemen slid deeper into chaos when the coalition launched an air campaign in March 2015 to push back the Iran-backed Huthi rebels who seized territory including the capital Sanaa.

Russia, which has friendly relations with Iran, has criticized Western countries for backing for the coalition.

The conflict has left more than 6,700 people dead, most of them civilians, and displaced at least three million others since the coalition's intervention, the United Nations says.

A UN report in June found the Saudi-led coalition responsible for 60 percent of the 785 deaths of children in Yemen last year.

Yemen ranks as a level 3 emergency -- the highest on the UN scale -- with nearly 70 percent of the population of 21 million facing food shortages.

(Staff with AFP)