Qatar welcomes US call for ceasefire in Yemen

Qatar said it backs a renewed push by the US for a ceasefire in Yemen and a return to UN-backed peace talks aimed at ending the three-and-half-year war. The administration of Donald Trump said on Wednesday the climate is right to resume peace talks, following similar comments from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis this week, Reuters reports. The US call is “an encouraging step towards a political solution and an end to the suffering of the Yemeni people,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The war in Yemen pits the Houthi forces against a Saudi-led, US-backed military coalition fighting to restore the internationally recognized government. Both sides in the conflict have been accused of serious human rights violations.