Pompeo: Houthis are flouting Hodeidah ceasefire
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday that Yemen’s Houthi rebels were failing to comply with a ceasefire agreement reached during peace talks in Sweden last month.
Speaking in Riyadh, the diplomat said the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had opted not to comply with the deal.
“The work that was done in Sweden on Yemen was good, but both sides [need] to honour those commitments,” Mr Pompeo said after talks with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “Today, the Iranianbacked Houthis have chosen not to do that.”
Mr Pompeo was visiting Riyadh as part of a Middle East tour to convey Washington’s commitment to fighting ISIS and Iran despite President Donald Trump’s planned troop withdrawal from Syria.
Mr Pompeo, who was in Oman yesterday, will reportedly cut short his tour after a family death, Reuters reported.
“This is so that the Pompeo family may attend a family funeral,” the spokesman said.
Mr Pompeo has made stops in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Baghdad, Amman and Cairo.
Kuwait City was the last scheduled stop, where he was due to lead the third US-Kuwaiti Strategic Dialogue, focusing on defence, cybersecurity and economic ties.
In Riyadh yesterday, Mr Pompeo discussed attempts to find a political solution in Yemen and Syria, countering threats from Iran and holding the killers of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to account.
Mr Pompeo told Prince Mohammed bin Salman that his trip across the Middle East had been productive, according to the Associated Press.
“I want to talk to you about a couple of places we’ve been,”
he said. “We think we learnt a lot along the way that will be important going forward.”
The prince replied that the Saudis would “try to add more positivity, as much as we can”.
The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia said both sides had agreed on the need for a redoubled effort for peace in Yemen.
“On Yemen, [Mr Pompeo and the crown prince] agreed on the need for continued de-escalation and adherence to Sweden agreements, especially ceasefire and redeployment in Hodeidah. A comprehensive political solution is only way to the end the conflict,” the US embassy tweeted.
Mr Pompeo yesterday sent US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale to Lebanon to ensure the country works with the US to counter Iran’s regional agenda.
Mr Hale said that the US was proceeding with efforts to counter Iran’s financing of Hezbollah and its activities.