Widespread Consensus on Continuing Yemen Truce, US Envoy Says

There is strong domestic and international consensus supporting the continuation of the truce in Yemen, and all the regional nations back a peaceful resolution and not a return to violence, according to the US special envoy for Yemen. Speaking to the Arab News website based in Saudi Arabia, Special Envoy Timothy Lenderking says that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels would be “completely isolated” should they opt to continue fighting the internationally recognized government. “From what we know after talking to Yemenis inside Yemen and around the world, there is no appetite for a return to war. There is no capacity for anybody to wish to see this happen,” Lenderking told the Arab News. The diplomat said that since the truce took hold in April, initially for two months, there has been a decline of 60% in the number of civilian casualties in Yemen. The truce was renewed for two months in June and again in August, when it was extended until the start of October.