United States calls for a ceasefire in Yemen: NPR

The Trump administration has called for a ceasefire in Yemen, where years of violence have left thousands dead and millions more starving. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have asked fighters to sit at the negotiating table for peace talks within a month.

In a carefully worded statement Tuesday, Pompeo called on the Houthi rebels to stop firing missiles into the territories of neighboring Arab countries. The Iranian-backed Shia militia launched several such missiles in Saudi Arabia and other members of the Sunni coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015.

"Subsequently," added Pompeo, "coalition air strikes must stop in all populated areas of Yemen."

The statement seems to impose on the Houthists the burden of ending their attacks, before the Saudi-led coalition – which is receiving US aid – ends its military operations.

Nevertheless, Pompeo's call for a ceasefire marks one of the strongest pressures of the Trump administration in favor of peace in Yemen. And his support for "substantive consultations" within the United Nations was welcomed by the diplomat who led them.

UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths urged all parties "to seize this opportunity to engage constructively" with the aim of resuming peace talks and alleviating the most immediate of the woes that are currently confronted Yemeni civilians.

"We remain determined to bring the Yemeni parties to the negotiating table by one month," Griffiths said Wednesday. "Dialogue remains the only way to reach an inclusive agreement."

Balancing the positive discourse is the disastrous situation taking place on the ground.

Since 2014, when the Houthis captured much of the north-west of the country, including the capital, Sanaa, more than 17,000 civilians were killed or wounded and the country's health infrastructure was so badly damaged that more than one million people have contracted otherwise preventable diseases. .

At present, the US chief of humanitarian assistance warns that nearly 14 million people, or about half of the Yemeni population, may soon be fully dependent on foreign aid to survive. Mark Lowcock told the United States Security Council that Yemen was about to suffer the third famine the world has seen in the past two decades.

The "clear and present danger" facing Yemenis is "far greater than anything professionals in this sector have seen in their professional lives," Lowcock added.

Despite concerns expressed by international humanitarian organizations and some lawmakers, the White House has firmly backed his friend in the fray, Saudi Arabia, defending the Saudi coalition's efforts to prevent the loss of civilians.

Defense Secretary Mattis recalled that the defense took part in a forum held Tuesday at the US Peace Institute in Washington, DC. But he also presented a proposal for a deadline for a ceasefire.

"In thirty days, we want to see everyone around a peace table, based on a ceasefire and a withdrawal from the border," said Mattis. "This will allow the special envoy, Martin Griffiths, who is very good and who knows what he's doing, to reunite them in Sweden.This is the only way to solve this problem."

As Michele Kelemen of the NPR points out, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs offered to host the meeting. Last month, Griffiths attempted a similar offer to bring the parties to the negotiating table in Geneva, but the efforts ended in failure after the Houthiists refused.

In the Pompeo statement, released Tuesday night shortly after Mattis commented, the secretary of state said the talks were due to be re-launched next month.

"It is time to end this conflict, replace it with a compromise and allow the Yemeni people to heal through peace and reconstruction," he said.