US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking met with Yemen's internally recognized foreign minister, Ahmed bin Mubarak, in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss prospects for ending the six-year war, after fighting broke out in the oil-rich Yemeni province of Marib
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2021) US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking met with Yemen's internally recognized foreign minister, Ahmed bin Mubarak, in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss prospects for ending the six-year war, after fighting broke out in the oil-rich Yemeni province of Marib.
"Our Primary objective is to bring the parties together in coordination with [UN Special Envoy Martin] Griffiths for a negotiated settlement that will end the war and the suffering of the Yemeni people," Lenderking was quoted as saying by the US embassy.
Lenderking was named special envoy to the war-torn country last week when US President Joe Biden ended offensive support for the Saudi-led Arab coalition. Following the announcement, the US diplomat traveled to Riyadh for talks with the Saudi foreign minister and the UN envoy for Yemen.
Hostilities in Yemen escalated late last week after Houthi rebels attempted to reach a strategically important military camp in Marib's Sirwah district, where government forces were stationed. Dozens died in the ensuing clashes, prompting calls for calm from Griffiths.
Mohammed Maqaleh, a former member of the Houthi authority, told Sputnik that peace talks should be conducted between the rebel movement and the Saudi government with help from the United States. He said that the internationally recognized Yemeni government should be seen as part of the Saudi coalition.
"Negotiations take place between them, while America is a stakeholder, and I believe that it is able to bring the parties together," he said.
Maqaleh said the rival Yemeni government should be given a say in the US-brokered Houthi-Saudi talks but argued that only the will of Sanaa, Riyadh and Washington could stop the war. He suggested that the Houthis would stop fighting if the Saudi-led forces did so first.
"Saudi Arabia must end the hostilities, and then everyone will do it. If Saudi Arabia agrees on a ceasefire, activities will be terminated on the Marib front and others," Maqaleh said.
Yemen has been engulfed in fighting between the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthis since 2014. The Arab coalition launched a military operation in 2015 and has been assisted by the US in bombing Houthi positions, drawing UN criticism for civilian casualties.
