Britain and US call for Yemen ceasefire within hours

Britain and the US have called for a ceasefire in Yemen “within hours” as public outrage grows over the killing of 140 people in a Saudi airstrike.

According to the Guardian, Fighting between Iranian-backed Houthis and the Yemeni government, which is supported by Gulf states, has lasted more than 18 months, far longer than the Gulf states expected.

US secretary of state John Kerry said that if Yemen’s opposing sides accepted and moved forward on a ceasefire, then the UN special envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, would work through the details and announce when and how it would take effect.

“This is the time to implement a ceasefire unconditionally and then move to the negotiating table,” Kerry said after a brief meeting with the British foreign secretary Boris Johnson and other officials in London. “We cannot emphasise enough today the urgency of ending the violence in Yemen.”

Kerry said he, Johnson and Cheikh Ahmed were calling for the implementation of a ceasefire “as rapidly as possible, meaning Monday, Tuesday”.

On 8 October, a Saudi air raid on a funeral killed 140 people and wounded 525 others, drawing severe criticism of the Arab coalition.