President Joe Biden will announce on Thursday the end of US support for a five-year Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen that has exacerbated humanitarian suffering in the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula, said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
The move would fulfill a campaign promise from Biden, whose government plans to pursue diplomacy to end the general conflict in Yemen. Biden sees the United States “playing a more active and engaged role” to end the war through negotiations, Sullivan said at a press conference at the White House.
Biden is also announcing the appointment of Timothy Lenderking as a special envoy to Yemen on Thursday afternoon, when the president is due to speak at the State Department. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the choice, speaking on condition of anonymity before the announcement. The Gulf newspaper The National reported the choice for the first time.
Lenderking was deputy assistant secretary of state in the agency’s Middle East section. An international career member, he served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Saudi Arabia initiated the offensive in 2015 to contain a Yemeni Huti faction that had taken territory in Yemen and was launching cross-border missiles in Saudi Arabia.
Since then, a Saudi-led air campaign has killed several Yemeni civilians, despite US assistance to the command and control of the Saudi army, which US officials say aims to minimize civilian casualties in the bombing campaign. The Obama administration initially gave the green light to the Saudi-led offensive. Since then, some of the American officials involved have said they regret that decision and are now in the Biden government, which is preparing to stop US involvement and end the multi-party conflict.
The survivors display fragments showing American-made bombs. The conflict has also aggravated hunger and poverty in Yemen, and international rights experts say that both Gulf countries and Houthis have committed serious rights abuses.