US calls on Saudi coalition to open Yemeni ports to aid

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The White House for the second time in three days called on the Saudi-led military coalition to allow humanitarian aid to Yemen, in a sign of frustration with a Saudi-led blockade.

In a statement on Friday, the White House also condemned the Houthi movement's repression of political opponents in the capital Sanaa, including killing former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. It said negotiations were necessary to end violence in the country, "free of the malign influence of Iranian-backed militias."

The statement by White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders followed one on Wednesday by President Donald Trump, who said the Saudis must "completely allow food, fuel, water and medicine to reach the Yemeni people," saying this was needed immediately.

People inspect a house after it was destroyed by a Saudi-led airstrike in Sanaa, Feb. 25, 2016. /Reuters Photo

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Iran-aligned armed Houthis in Yemen's civil war started a blockade of ports a month ago after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired toward its capital Riyadh from Yemen.

Houthi forces control Sanaa and much of the rest of the impoverished country, where three years of war have killed more than 10,000 people and brought it to the verge of famine.

"We call on the Saudi-led coalition to facilitate the free flow of humanitarian aid and critical commercial goods, including fuel, through all Yemeni ports and to restore commercial flights through Sanaa Airport," Sanders said.

"The Iranian-backed Houthi militias must allow food, medicine, and fuel to be distributed throughout the areas they control, rather than diverted to sustain their military campaign against the Yemeni people," she added.

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Source(s): Reuters