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British Ambassador to Yemen: The West Has Forgotten the Reason of War

British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron (Asharq Al-Awsat)
British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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British Ambassador to Yemen: The West Has Forgotten the Reason of War

British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron (Asharq Al-Awsat)
British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The newly-appointed British Ambassador to Yemen, Michael Aron, said that the public opinion in the West has forgotten the reason that had started the war because of the worsening humanitarian crisis.

Stressing the deployment of strenuous efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the Yemeni population, Aron noted that the war started with a coup perpetrated by a small group of Yemenis, in reference to Houthi militias, adding that there was no need for an Iranian role in Yemen.

The ambassador said he believed that efforts initiated by the new UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, would yield “real results to resolve the Yemeni crisis this year,” adding that the envoy would travel to Sanaa and Aden this week to listen to the opinion of the different sides before returning to New York to attend a Security Council session on April 17 and meet with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

On the Saudi role, Aron said: “I think it was clear in the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Britain that the Saudis want a solution to the problem and, in my opinion, the Saudi role is very important in this regard as Saudi Arabia supports the solution and the political process but cannot accept to live under the threat of ballistic missiles from a neighboring country.”

“They also want security along their borders, and they reject any role for Iran in Yemen and we support them in all these concerns, and it is very important to agree on these matters,” he added.

Asked about the guarantees that would make the militias accept a new peace initiative, especially with the outcome of the Kuwait negotiations, where the legitimate government signed the international peace agreement and offered many compromises, while the Houthis rejected the agreement, the British ambassador stressed that Yemenis living in areas controlled by Houthis would not accept the continuation of war.

“So I believe that with the efforts of the Special Envoy and the help of the international community, the problem can be solved this year,” Aron stated.

He emphasized that the Yemeni file was a priority for the British government, which he said was helping the UN efforts and the special envoy.

He noted that Griffiths, of British nationality, was an independent employee who has been appointed to assume this post due to his technical expertise.

“We support his efforts… I am optimistic and I think the opportunities in the coming months are real and not just words,” Aron said.

The British ambassador presented an overview of his country’s humanitarian support to Yemen.

He said that during the 2017-2018 fiscal year, Britain has offered 205 Million GBP in aid, which makes the country the second largest donor of financial aid.

He also underlined British support to the efforts of the United Nations, expressing satisfaction with the appointment of Lise Grande as the new UN humanitarian coordinator in Sanaa.

“We are working with the Coalition and neighboring countries to bring aid through the port of Hodeidah. I believe that easing sanctions on the Houthis could be a confidence-building step and would allow the distribution of aid to all Yemenis without any sanctions from both sides,” Aron noted.

The British ambassador highly valued the humanitarian plan launched by Saudi Arabia to support the Yemeni people and the central bank. He also praised efforts deployed by the Yemeni legitimate forces, backed by the Coalition, to fight terrorism on Yemeni territories.

Asked about Iran’s negative role in Yemen, Aron said: “I do not think there is a need for an Iranian role in Yemen. I spoke to the Yemenis and they do not want any role for Iran in their country. The relationship between the Houthis and Iran is new, and is not welcome by Yemenis.”

“So if the Iranians say they want peace in the region and Yemen and they are sincere in that, they should withdraw and stop their military assistance to the Houthis, which is an important part of solving the problem,” he stated.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.