Yemenis have cautiously welcomed Joe Biden’s announcement that the US is ending its support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in the country’s complex war, saying the decision is an important step on the long road towards finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.
In his first foreign policy speech as president on Thursday, Biden announced a broad reshaping of US relations with the rest of the world, including his predecessor Donald Trump’s unquestioning support for Gulf monarchies with poor human rights records at home and abroad.
Biden said the conflict in Yemen, which has killed around 233,000 people and left 80% of the population of 29 million dependent on aid, had “created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe”.
“This war has to end,” he said. “And to underscore our commitment, we’re ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arm sales.”
It is understood the US will continue to provide defensive support to Saudi Arabia against cross-border missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. US forces will continue operations against al-Qaida cells based in Yemen’s desert.
Yemen’s civil war escalated sharply in 2015 after the Houthis forced the Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia, after which Riyadh launched a military campaign supported by 20 Arab nations to restore the exiled government.
Weaponry, vehicles and technical expertise provided by the UK, US and other western nations have been essential to the coalition’s operations. Overwhelming evidence suggests that airstrikes launched from Riyadh have regularly targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Biden’s announcement was greeted with cautious optimism by several Yemenis to whom the Guardian spoke on Friday. “This is a long overdue and great step which opens the possibility of shifting to a diplomatic rather than military solution to the war,” said Ahmed Abdo Ali, a resident of Sana’a.
The impact of one of Trump’s final decisions in the White House – designating the Houthis as a terrorist organisation – was another urgent humanitarian issue Biden must address to prevent unnecessary civilian suffering, Ali said. “What needs to happen now is the president must undo the [terrorism designation] because it will have such grave economic repercussions for ordinary Yemeni citizens, and it will make the Houthis even less likely to engage with the peace process.”
Osama alFakih, an advocacy director for Mwatana, one of the only human rights groups still operating in the country, said: “Many Yemenis I know have raised their expectations since yesterday’s announcement to see an end to this war. Ending the US support to the coalition is a good start but not enough. Yemenis need to see real efforts to support accountability and reparations for victims of all warring parties.”
Biden’s break with longstanding US policy has raised fresh questions about the UK’s stance on the war. London has continued arms sales to the coalition despite the court of appeal ruling in 2019 that Westminster had not sufficiently examined whether the coalition regularly breached international humanitarian law.
Anna McMorrin, the shadow minister for international development, said: “The government has been worryingly quiet on [Yemen], with messaging that contrasts starkly from the Biden administration. Given the UK’s role as penholders on Yemen at the UN, the government should work proactively with the US, as well as with our international partners, to bring about a ceasefire and a lasting peace as soon as possible.”
Riyadh, which was informed of the US decision to withdraw support before Biden’s speech, said on Friday that it was committed to a political solution to the Yemen conflict and that it welcomed Biden’s ongoing commitment to Saudi defence issues.
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