Mattis hails "long standing relationship' with Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON, March 22 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis affirmed Thursday the "long-standing relationship" with Saudi Arabia, saying "with our spirit of cooperation, we will continue to work together to bring unity, stability and security to the region, to fight terrorist organizations and to deter Iran's maligned activities." During a meeting at the Pentagon with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al-Saud, Mattis reiterared "we must also reinvigorate urgent efforts to seek a peaceful resolution to the civil war in Yemen, "saying "we support you in this regard." He added that the appointment of a new U.N. special envoy to Yemen "is an opportunity to accelerate a political solution to resolve this conflict. Because that can provide the regional stability necessary to protect your nation and deny terrorists the safe haven they seek by steady conditions for all Yemeni citizens' human rights." "Your significant amount of humanitarian aid is critical to help the innocents caught up in this conflict, and we applaud you for that," Mattis remarked.
For his part, Prince Mohammed affirmed the "longstanding and historic," relationship, saying "it will continue for the long run. Especially that we share the challenges as well as the benefits." "Today we are working on many things as to combat the threats facing our nations. Especially with the Pentagon آ… the cooperation has improved tremendously between the two Ministries of Defense. And we will continue doing so in the future." Meanwhile, Mattis told reporters "we have been working very hard with the new U.N. envoy to end the fight in Yemen. And we believe that Saudi Arabia is part of the solution. They have stood by the United Nations-recognized government, and we are going to end this war." "We're going to end it on positive terms for the people of Yemen, but also security for the nations in the peninsula," he stressed.
US President Donald Trump met on Tuesday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during which they discussed "additional steps to address the humanitarian situation" in Yemen and agreed that "a political resolution to the conflict is ultimately necessary to meet the needs of the Yemeni people." (end) si