WASHINGTON
The U.S. on Friday welcomed next week’s Yemen peace conference while urging the country’s warring factions to exercise restraint in the interim.
“Yemen's crisis must be solved through peaceful political means,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “All parties must return to the negotiation table to end the fighting as soon as possible and agree on a path forward that will end the suffering of the Yemeni people.”
The United Nations announced Thursday that the mid-September talks would be aimed at brokering a cease-fire framework to end violence that has spiraled out of control since Houthi rebels overthrew exiled President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi’s government.
The conflict pitted the Iran-backed Houthis and forces loyal to former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh against the Hadi government, backed by an air campaign launched in March by Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies.
As the parties prepare to meet in a yet undetermined venue, Kirby further urged all sides to “exercise restraints, comply with international humanitarian law, and to take all feasible measures to minimize harm to civilians”.
