The United States welcomes the decision made by the Determination Storm Coalition to end the Determination Storm Operation in Yemen. With this announcement, the US looks forward to a shift from military operations to a rapid, unconditional resumption of all-party negotiations that allow Yemen to resume an inclusive political transitional process as envisioned in the GCC initiative, the National Dialogue outcomes, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, U.S. officials said. In a press statement issued here today, the US National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said that the United States commends the commitment of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to provide $274 million in emergency humanitarian relief to Yemen. "We strongly urge all Yemeni parties, in particular the Houthis and their supporters, to take this opportunity to return to these negotiations as part of the political dialogue. Having bravely and resolutely sought a democratic political transition, the Yemeni people deserve the opportunity to hold a peaceful debate about their new constitution, to participate in a credible and safe constitutional referendum, and to vote in free and fair national elections," she added. "The United States also strongly supports the commitment of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners to facilitate the provision of humanitarian and medical aid to those displaced and injured by the fighting. We look forward to this transition from Operation Determination Storm significantly increasing the opportunities for international and Yemeni humanitarian organizations to access and deliver assistance to the Yemeni people," Bernadette said. She stressed that the United States reiterates the obligation of all nations to abide by the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2216 that prohibit the supply of arms or other related materiel to key Houthi leaders, as well as ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, his son, and those acting at their direction. "The United States will continue to support efforts to build an international cooperation to seek preventing violations of this resolution, including enhanced maritime monitoring and inspection by international partners," she added. "At the same time, we will continue to closely monitor terrorist threats posed by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and take action as necessary against continuing imminent threats to the United States and its citizens. Al-Qaida and other terrorists have sought to benefit from the deterioration of the political and security situation in Yemen and we strongly believe it is in the interests of the Yemeni people to unite to confront the shared terrorist threat to their country" she concluded.
