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US Talking with Iranian-Backed Houthi Rebels to End War in Yemen, Report Says

VOA News

   VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching contributed to this
   report.

   A top U.S. diplomat says the United States is holding talks with
   Iranian-backed Houthi rebels to try end the fighting in Yemen, which
   has killed thousands of civilians.

   "We are narrowly focused on trying to end the war in Yemen," assistant
   secretary for Near Eastern affairs Davis Schenker said during a visit
   to Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

   The French News Agency quotes him as saying, "We are also having talks
   to the extent possible with the Houthis to try and find a mutually
   accepted negotiated solution to the conflict."

   A U.S. State Department official did not confirm the U.S. is talking to
   the rebels, telling VOA on Thursday it is engaged in talks with "all
   Yemenis to further U.S. objectives in the country ... working with our
   international partners to bring peace, prosperity and security to a
   unified Yemen."

   The former Obama administration briefly held talks with Houthi leaders
   to try to convince them to negotiate a peaceful settlement. Those talks
   and subsequent U.N.-sponsored peace talks failed.

   The Houthis seized the Yemeni capital in 2014, followed by Saudi-led
   coalition airstrikes against the rebels. The missiles have obliterated
   entire civilian neighborhoods, killing thousands and aggravating what
   was already a humanitarian crisis in one of the world's poorest
   nations.

   U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed congressional measures to cut off
   all U.S. aid to the Saudi coalition in May.

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