In the latest in a long line of White House statements which have taken the world by surprise, US President Donald Trump this week said that Yemen’s Houthis had “capitulated” and that as a result “we will stop the bombings.” The 6 May announcement came just a week before President Trump is due to visit the GCC and will have been well received in capitals there, although it will have caused consternation in Israel which is engaged in an increasingly fierce conflict with the Houthis.
The agreement was mediated by Oman, and in a 6 May statement, the Omani Foreign Ministry said that “In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping.” (CONTINUED - 1112 WORDS)
