Daily Management Review

Call For Cease Fire In Yemen By US, And Peace Talks In 30 Days


10/31/2018




At last hope seems to have emerged for millions in Yemen following a call for a cease fire by top American officials and demanding that the warring parties meet at a negotiating table as immediately.
 
The call was made after an additional more than 10000 new troops led by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates were moved towards a key port city in Yemen which is held by the rebels.
 
The US had been watching the conflict "for long enough",, said James Mattis, the Pentagon chief. He stressed his belief that Saudi Arabia and and the United Arab Emirates – which are a part of the US ld coalition, were also ready for negotiations.
 
"We have got to move toward a peace effort here, and we can't say we are going to do it sometime in the future," Mattis said at the US Institute of Peace in Washington. "We need to be doing this in the next 30 days."
 
In a statement later, a call for an end to air strikes in populated areas in Yemen was made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo said the "time is now for the cessation of hostilities" in the war-plagued country.
 
The US sent out a call to all warring factions to get together with United Nations special envoy Martin Griffiths in Sweden in November and “come to an agreement”, Mattis said.
 
It was in 2015 that the US, Saudi Arabia and its allies jumped in Yemen that was ongoing between the Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, one that is recognised by the United Nations, and the Houthi rebels, who were allegedly supported by Iran.
 
Yemen currently is facing a sever threat of famine which can impact about 13 million people and according to very conservative estimates, the number of people who have dies in the conflict is at least 10,000. Many say that this figure is one that has not been updated for a number of years and one that is most likely to be much higher.
 
According to warnings from the UN, the conflict in Yemen could result in a humanitarian catastrophe that has not been witnessed in the last 100 years.
 
Peace is what the people of Yemen need most at the moment and even the 30 days time period to halt fighting is too long for them, said Kevin Martin, president of the grassroots Peace Action group.
 
"I think the Trump administration is trying to get out ahead of a stampede. Congress, public opinion and the media have all turned very much against this war," Martin told the media.
 
He added that Saudi Arabia could listen to US demands because of the increasing international pressure on them.
 
"Unfortunately it's taken the school bus bombing tragedy of a few months ago, and then the horrible murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Those are awful and it shouldn't have taken anything like that, but it does seem to have provoked more people in Congress to speak out against this," said Martin.
 
(Source:www.aljazeera.com)