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US gives 'yellow light' to UAE assault on Yemen port

A top United Arab Emirates official urged the international community to pressure the Houthi rebels to withdraw from the key Yemeni port city.
Smoke rises from a warehouse of the World Food Programme as fire engulfs it in Hodeida, Yemen March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad - RC1F6A979000

WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates warned today that it may proceed with a military operation on the key Yemeni port city of Hodeidah if the international community is unable to persuade the Houthi rebels holding the Red Sea port city of 400,000 to withdraw.

“The current and illegal Houthi occupation of Hodeida is prolonging the Yemeni war,” Anwar Gargash, the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, wrote on Twitter today. “The liberation of the city and port will create a new reality and bring the Houthis to the negotiations.”

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