“By participating in attacks that violate the laws of war and by providing weapons and munitions to a military force that can be expected to use them unlawfully, the USA risks complicity in violations by coalition forces”, Human Rights Watch wrote in a letter to Kerry last week. The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) estimates that between seven to 10 million people in Yemen are now in need of emergency food assistance. The bloodshed. has gone on for too long.
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After Reuters filed the report, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said in a statement that, “Even as we assist the Saudis regarding their territorial integrity, it does not mean that we will refrain from expressing our concern about the war in Yemen and how it has been waged”. Kerry said the Houthis would be required to give up their heavy weapons to a third party, including ballistic missiles from Iran deployed at Saudi Arabian borders.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition in March a year ago launched a military campaign against Huthi rebels as they closed in on UN-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his southern refuge in Aden. The United States has backed the coalition with multi-billion dollar arms sales and provided logistical and intelligence support. Kerry is in Saudi Arabia for talks to push for peace in Yemen after UN-brokered talks collapsed despite global concern over mounting civilian casualties. A number of USA politicians have also expressed concern about Washington’s role in the conflict. The fighting has allowed al-Qaida and an Islamic State affiliate in Yemen to expand their reach, particularly in the country’s south.
The attack came a day after rockets fired from Yemen struck a power station in Najran, marking a rare hit on Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure after months of periodic bombardment of the area.
Mr Kerry’s meeting with King Salman lasted roughly half an hour.
At the start of Thursday, August 25’s roughly half-hour meeting, the king and Kerry spoke briefly about the monarch’s health and an operation he had in the USA, apparently for back pain. It was not clear when the surgery was performed.
Mr Kerry also met United Nations special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
A second meeting will be held later today to include in the talks the foreign ministers from remaining Gulf Cooperation Council states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.
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“This war needs to end and it needs to end as quickly as possible”. In response, Houthis began shelling across the border into Saudi Arabia.
