Thu 04 February 2021:
The US has announced an end to its support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen, citing the role the bombing campaign has had in creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The announcement was made by the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in a preview of a speech Joe Biden is due to deliver at the state department,
Biden is expected to formally roll out the policy change during remarks at the State Department later Thursday.
The US will also freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and name a special envoy to Yemen, to put more pressure on the Saudis, Emiratis and the Houthi forces they are fighting, to make a lasting peace agreement.
“We have spoken with both senior officials in the UAE and senior officials in Saudi Arabia,” Sullivan said. “We are pursuing a policy of no surprises when it comes to these types of actions.”
Saudi Arabia’s campaign against the Houthis has prompted widespread humanitarian outcries over their repeated atrocities, including the 2016 targeting of a funeral in Sanaa, the rebel-controlled capital, that killed more than 100 victims.
The Iran-backed rebel group overran much of Yemen beginning in 2014, deposing the government and sending it into exile before it returned to the port city of Aden in 2016. Political turmoil has been the rule rather than the exception since with a third separatist movement known as the Southern Transitional Council being declared in May 2017.
As its political infighting continues, Yemen – the Arab world’s poorest nation even before the conflict – faces widespread famine as it experiences what is widely considered to be the worst humanitarian calamity on the planet.
The Saudi coalition’s actions, aimed at rolling back Houthi gains, have been widely criticized by rights groups for worsening the man-made crisis that affects nearly 80% of the nation’s population, putting 30 million Yemenis in need of humanitarian assistance. Just recently, clashes in the war-torn country resulted in the deaths of 150 people.
About 13 million are in danger of starvation.
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
