US Suspends Refueling Saudi Jets In Deadly Bombing Campaign On Yemen

RIYADH — The US and Saudi Arabia say they have agreed to end US re­fueling of Saudi aircraft bomb­ing Yemen but several officials underlined that American training and military assis­tance will continue.

The decision was announced by Saudi Arabia on Saturday and confirmed by the US, com­ing at a time of mounting glob­al outcry over the high number of civilian casualties and the murder of Jamal Khoshoggi.

The official Saudi Press Agen­cy (SPA) reported that Riyadh had itself demanded to stop in­flight refueling services by the US military for its warplanes after “consultation” with Washington.

“Recently the kingdom and the coalition has increased its capability to independently conduct inflight refueling in Yemen. As a result, in consulta­tion with the United States, the coalition has requested cessa­tion of support for it’s opera­tions in Yemen,” the SPA said.

According to Saudi-owned Al Arabiya al-Hadath channel on Saturday, Saudi Arabia has a fleet of 23 planes for refueling opera­tions, including six Airbus 330 MRTT used for Yemen, while the UAE has six of the Airbus planes.

Riyadh also has nine KC-130 Hercules aircraft that can be used, it added.

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis con­firmed that the decision to stop refueling was taken in consulta­tion with the US government. “We support the decision by the king­dom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Several US officials, how­ever, were quick to clarify that the end to refueling would not stop American training and military assistance for the Sau­di aggression against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have recently launched a new offen­sive against Hudaydah, which is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, after seeing several campaigns to occupy the main port city thwarted by Yemen’s Houthis and their allies in the army.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said US calls for peace and its politi­cal posturing are meaningless.

“The continued escalation of attacks … by the US-Saudi-Emi­rati coalition confirms that the American calls for a ceasefire are nothing but empty talk,” he wrote in a column published by the Washington Post.

The ceasefire call, he said, is an attempt “to save face after the humiliation” caused by the murder of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi policy, who was bru­tally murdered at the US con­sulate in Istanbul last month.

US Representative Ro Khanna, an advocate of barring US mili­tary support to the Saudi war on Yemen, has reportedly intro­duced a measure in the House to ensure the Trump administration follows through on its decision.

“From everything that I’ve un­derstood, from activists on the ground, from people who are briefed on policy, the war could not continue without the assistance of US refueling,” he told US online news publication The Intercept.

Since the outbreak of the inva­sion in 2015, the US military has been refueling Saudi aircraft that conduct airstikes on Yemen.

Senator Chris Murphy em­phasized that the Trump ad­ministration should cut off all forms of support for the Saudi-led coalition, not just refueling.

“Why are we still helping the Saudis with targeting? Why are we still selling them the bombs at a discount?” he asked.

“Now that it’s no longer a se­cret that the war in Yemen is a national security and humani­tarian nightmare, we need to get all the way out.”

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