The United States has been pressing Saudi Arabia to allow more goods and humanitarian aid to Yemen, US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said in a congressional hearing on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2021) The United States has been pressing Saudi Arabia to allow more goods and humanitarian aid to Yemen, US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said in a congressional hearing on Wednesday."We have been able to, I believe through our engagements, to move several ships but as I've made clear, more is needed, and that is a center point I and others made to the Saudis," Lenderking told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Essential lifelines must be open and cannot be held hostage to other elements of the peace deal."
Lenderking added that food has continued to move through Hudaydah port, but it's the fuel imports that have been problematic.
Yemen has been gripped by an internal conflict between the government forces and the Houthi movement for over six years. Since 2015, the Saudi-led coalition fighting on the government's side has been conducting air, land and sea operations against the rebels, who control the capital of Sanaa and large areas in Yemen's north and west. The Houthis often retaliate by firing projectiles and bomber drones at the Saudi territory.
On March 22, Saudi Arabia proposed a comprehensive UN-sponsored ceasefire in Yemen, but the Houthis demanded that Riyadh first lift the economic blockade of Yemeni ports and airports.
