Riyadh Pledges $500Mln In Aid For Yemen, $25Mln To Fight COVID-19 - Vice Defense Minister

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2020) Saudi Arabia will provide $500 million in humanitarian aid for Yemen and $25 million more to fight the spread of COVID-19, kingdom's Vice Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman al Saud said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the state Saudi media reported that the Saudi-led coalition had put military operations on hold for two weeks. The move was welcomed by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths.

"Today, Yemen may face an even bigger disaster in case of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, that is why the kingdom has announced the allocation of $500 million for the UN humanitarian plan on Yemen in 2020 and additional $25 million to fight the spread of the pandemic," the official wrote on his Twitter page.

The vice defense minister stressed that the two-week ceasefire would create favorable conditions for de-escalating tensions in Yemen.

"The Houthis must finally show good will by seriously engaging UN Envoy Mr. Martin Grifiths towards implementing steps that will ease the suffering of the Yemeni people and protect the Yemeni people from an Epidemic of which the world has never seen before," he added.

Yemen has been mired in a conflict between the UN-backed government, headed by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi Shia rebels since 2015. The parties signed a ceasefire agreement in late 2018, which, however, has soon collapsed.

In late March, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the ceasefire in all world's conflicts so that the focus could shift to the true "fight of our lives," referring to the pandemic of COVID-19. Both the UN-backed Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels have expressed support for the initiative, but the clashes are still underway.