Iran Press/America: As support for the Saudi-led campaign against the impoverished country has turned out to become increasingly costly for Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Tuesday that the war in Yemen must end soon, adding that UN-led negotiations to end the civil war should begin next month, Reuters reported.
Referring to the popular forces of Ansarullah movement who are defending their country against the Saudi-led aggression, Pompeo said "Missile and drone strikes by Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates should stop."
He also said "the Saudi-led coalition must cease air strikes in all populated areas of Yemen."
“The time is now for the cessation of hostilities, including missile and UAV strikes from Houthi-controlled areas into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” Pompeo said, using an acronym for unmanned aerial vehicles.
“Subsequently, Coalition air strikes must cease in all populated areas in Yemen,” he added.
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His call was echoed by US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis who said "Thirty days from now we want to see everybody around a peace table based on a ceasefire, based on a pullback from the border and then based on ceasing dropping of bombs that will permit the (UN) special envoy, Martin Griffiths -- he's very good, he knows what he's doing -- to get them together in Sweden and end this war."
Speaking at an event at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, Mattis added that the talks should lead to the implementation of "confidence-building measures to address the underlying issues of the conflict, the demilitarization of borders and the concentration of all large weapons under international observation."
These calls come as the US has faced criticism as having a responsibility in the conflict because of its military support for Saudi Arabia.
The US military provides the Saudi coalition with training in targeting, as well as aerial refueling of coalition warplanes.
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The war in Yemen has been just as problematic for the US. The conflict -- which has pitted the world’s biggest oil exporter against Houthi rebels in the poorest Arab nation since March 2015 -- has degenerated into a humanitarian disaster, according to the United Nations.
Bloomberg has reported, citing three unnamed sources that Washington is raising pressure on Saudi Arabia to end the war on Yemen and wind down its political and economic isolation of Qatar.
The Trump administration wants to see Saudi Arabia resolve the Qatar crisis and take similar steps toward its widely criticized war in Yemen, according to one US official who asked not to be identified.
Yemen is one of the poorest Arab countries and faces the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by a nearly four-year-old war that pits the Houthis against troops loyal to fugitive former president Mansour Hadi backed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the West.
Three-quarters of Yemen’s population, or 22 million people, desperately need foreign aid to survive and 8.4 million people are on the brink of starvation.
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UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said earlier this month that the United Nations hoped to resume consultations between the warring sides by November. 101/206
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