The United States has decided to limit military support to Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen because of concerns over widespread civilian casualties and will halt a planned arms sale to the kingdom, U.S. officials told Reuters.

The United States will also revamp future training of the kingdom’s air force to focus on improving Saudi targeting practices, a persistent source of concern for Washington.

The decision reflects deep frustration within President Barack Obama’s government over Saudi Arabia’s practices in Yemen’s 20-month-old war, which has killed more than 10,000 people and sparked humanitarian crises, including chronic food shortages, in the poorest country in the Middle East.

It could also further strain ties between Washington and Riyadh in the remaining days of Obama’s administration and put the question of Saudi-U.S. relations squarely before the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20.

Still, the decision was not the cut-off in support that Saudi Arabia’s biggest critics had hoped for and much of the U.S. military relationship will remain intact.

For example, the United States will keep refueling Saudi-led coalition aircraft involved in the campaign, and it is not cutting off all arms sales to the kingdom. And, in a nod to Saudi Arabia’s security concerns, Washington will share more intelligence on the Saudi border with Yemen.

The kingdom has been subject to cross-border attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi movement. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 and has launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis.

Rights groups say Saudi-led coalition attacks on clinics, schools, markets and factories may amount to war crimes. Saudi Arabia has either denied the attacks or cited the presence of fighters in the targeted areas and has said it has tried to reduce civilian casualties.

“I think it’s a signal but too weak of a signal,” said William Hartung of the U.S.-based Center for International Policy, responding to the U.S. decision. “As long as they’re going to refueling aircraft which is central to the bombing campaign, it’s hard to see that they’re using all the leverage they have,” said Hartung, who authored a report earlier this year on U.S. arms offers to Saudi Arabia during Obama’s tenure.

An Obama administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said “systemic, endemic” problems in Saudi Arabia’s targeting drove the U.S. decision to halt a future weapons sale involving precision-guided munitions.

“We’ve decided not to move forward with some foreign military sales cases for air-dropped munitions, PGMs (precision-guided munitions),” the official said.

“That’s obviously a direct reflection of the concerns that we have about Saudi strikes that have resulted in civilian casualties,” the official said. A second official confirmed the decision to suspend the sale of certain weaponry.

The officials declined to offer details. But a specific case put on hold appeared to involve the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of guidance systems manufactured by Raytheon Co that convert dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions that can more accurately hit their targets.

A Raytheon spokesman referred questions to the Pentagon and State Department. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told a news briefing he was unaware of the Reuters report.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi officials.

REFUELING TO CONTINUE

The White House launched a review of U.S. assistance for the Saudi-led coalition after planes struck mourners at a funeral in the capital, Sanaa, in October, killing 140 people, according to one U.N. estimate.

The United Nations human rights office said in August that the Saudi-led coalition was responsible for roughly 60 percent of the 3,800 civilians killed since March 2015.

Human rights groups, which have criticized the United States for supporting the Saudi war effort by selling the kingdom arms and refueling coalition jets, said the move by Washington was not enough. “This move falls far short of what is needed to end civilian bloodshed and alleviate suffering in Yemen,” said Amnesty International’s Samah Hadid in Beirut.

The rights groups pointed to the continued refueling of coalition planes, which the Obama administration official said for now was “not going to be touched.”

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California and a leading advocate in Congress for a suspension of U.S. cooperation with the Saudi-led coalition, said he was pleased the Obama administration had moved to cut off some arms sales, but he also felt the administration had not gone far enough.

“It is completely bizarre that they are continuing to refuel Saudi jets that drop bombs on civilians in Yemen,” Lieu said.

SMART VERSUS DUMB BOMBS

The decision to suspend the arms sale to the Saudis marks a reversal for the administration. Officials have long argued that supplying so-called “smart weapons” helped in reducing civilian casualties.

But that argument ultimately failed to convince the Obama administration during its review, which the first official said was still ongoing.

“It’s not a matter of how smart or dumb the bombs are, it’s that they’re not picking the right targets. The case in point ... is the one on the funeral,” the official said.

The airstrikes on the funeral took place after the Saudi-led coalition received incorrect information from Yemeni military figures that armed Houthi leaders were in the area, an investigative body set up by the coalition said in October.

Earlier this year, the U.S. military reduced the number of U.S. military personnel coordinating with the Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign, slashing it to six people from a peak of 45 personnel.

“Their responsibilities are being adjusted and limited so that they are less enmeshed in some of the offensive operations in Yemen,” the official said.

Reuters reported earlier on concerns by some U.S. officials that the United States could be implicated in possible Saudi violations of the laws of war.

In May, Washington suspended sales to Riyadh of cluster munitions, which release dozens of bomblets and are considered particularly dangerous to civilians.

Last week, the State Department announced plans to sell Saudi Arabia CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters and related equipment, training and support worth $3.51 billion. U.S. officials said the weaponry would help Saudi defend its border, not conduct offensive operations in Yemen.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has decided to limit military support to Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen because of concerns over widespread civilian casualties and will halt a planned arms sale to the kingdom, U.S. officials told Reuters.

A Saudi soldier fires a mortar towards Houthi movement position, at the Saudi border with Yemen April 21, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

The United States will also revamp future training of the kingdom’s air force to focus on improving Saudi targeting practices, a persistent source of concern for Washington.

The decision reflects deep frustration within President Barack Obama’s government over Saudi Arabia’s practices in Yemen’s 20-month-old war, which has killed more than 10,000 people and sparked humanitarian crises, including chronic food shortages, in the poorest country in the Middle East.

It could also further strain ties between Washington and Riyadh in the remaining days of Obama’s administration and put the question of Saudi-U.S. relations squarely before the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20.

Still, the decision was not the cut-off in support that Saudi Arabia’s biggest critics had hoped for and much of the U.S. military relationship will remain intact.

For example, the United States will keep refueling Saudi-led coalition aircraft involved in the campaign, and it is not cutting off all arms sales to the kingdom. And, in a nod to Saudi Arabia’s security concerns, Washington will share more intelligence on the Saudi border with Yemen.

The kingdom has been subject to cross-border attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi movement. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 and has launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis.

Rights groups say Saudi-led coalition attacks on clinics, schools, markets and factories may amount to war crimes. Saudi Arabia has either denied the attacks or cited the presence of fighters in the targeted areas and has said it has tried to reduce civilian casualties.

“I think it’s a signal but too weak of a signal,” said William Hartung of the U.S.-based Center for International Policy, responding to the U.S. decision. “As long as they’re going to refueling aircraft which is central to the bombing campaign, it’s hard to see that they’re using all the leverage they have,” said Hartung, who authored a report earlier this year on U.S. arms offers to Saudi Arabia during Obama’s tenure.

An Obama administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said “systemic, endemic” problems in Saudi Arabia’s targeting drove the U.S. decision to halt a future weapons sale involving precision-guided munitions.

“We’ve decided not to move forward with some foreign military sales cases for air-dropped munitions, PGMs (precision-guided munitions),” the official said.

“That’s obviously a direct reflection of the concerns that we have about Saudi strikes that have resulted in civilian casualties,” the official said. A second official confirmed the decision to suspend the sale of certain weaponry.

The officials declined to offer details. But a specific case put on hold appeared to involve the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of guidance systems manufactured by Raytheon Co that convert dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions that can more accurately hit their targets.

A Raytheon spokesman referred questions to the Pentagon and State Department. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told a news briefing he was unaware of the Reuters report.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi officials.

REFUELING TO CONTINUE

The White House launched a review of U.S. assistance for the Saudi-led coalition after planes struck mourners at a funeral in the capital, Sanaa, in October, killing 140 people, according to one U.N. estimate.

The United Nations human rights office said in August that the Saudi-led coalition was responsible for roughly 60 percent of the 3,800 civilians killed since March 2015.

Human rights groups, which have criticized the United States for supporting the Saudi war effort by selling the kingdom arms and refueling coalition jets, said the move by Washington was not enough. “This move falls far short of what is needed to end civilian bloodshed and alleviate suffering in Yemen,” said Amnesty International’s Samah Hadid in Beirut.

The rights groups pointed to the continued refueling of coalition planes, which the Obama administration official said for now was “not going to be touched.”

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California and a leading advocate in Congress for a suspension of U.S. cooperation with the Saudi-led coalition, said he was pleased the Obama administration had moved to cut off some arms sales, but he also felt the administration had not gone far enough.

“It is completely bizarre that they are continuing to refuel Saudi jets that drop bombs on civilians in Yemen,” Lieu said.

SMART VERSUS DUMB BOMBS

The decision to suspend the arms sale to the Saudis marks a reversal for the administration. Officials have long argued that supplying so-called “smart weapons” helped in reducing civilian casualties.

But that argument ultimately failed to convince the Obama administration during its review, which the first official said was still ongoing.

“It’s not a matter of how smart or dumb the bombs are, it’s that they’re not picking the right targets. The case in point ... is the one on the funeral,” the official said.

The airstrikes on the funeral took place after the Saudi-led coalition received incorrect information from Yemeni military figures that armed Houthi leaders were in the area, an investigative body set up by the coalition said in October.

Earlier this year, the U.S. military reduced the number of U.S. military personnel coordinating with the Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign, slashing it to six people from a peak of 45 personnel.

“Their responsibilities are being adjusted and limited so that they are less enmeshed in some of the offensive operations in Yemen,” the official said.

Reuters reported earlier on concerns by some U.S. officials that the United States could be implicated in possible Saudi violations of the laws of war.

In May, Washington suspended sales to Riyadh of cluster munitions, which release dozens of bomblets and are considered particularly dangerous to civilians.

Last week, the State Department announced plans to sell Saudi Arabia CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters and related equipment, training and support worth $3.51 billion. U.S. officials said the weaponry would help Saudi defend its border, not conduct offensive operations in Yemen.</s>The United States has decided to limit military support to Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen because of concerns over widespread civilian casualties and will halt a planned arms sale to the kingdom, U.S. officials told Reuters.

The United States will also revamp future training of the kingdom’s air force to focus on improving Saudi targeting practices, a persistent source of concern for Washington.

The decision reflects deep frustration within President Barack Obama’s government over Saudi Arabia’s practices in Yemen’s 20-month-old war, which has killed more than 10,000 people and sparked humanitarian crises, including chronic food shortages, in the poorest country in the Middle East.

It could also further strain ties between Washington and Riyadh in the remaining days of Obama’s administration and put the question of Saudi-U.S. relations squarely before the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20.

A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 and has launched thousands of air strikes against the Iran-allied Houthi movement.

Rights groups say attacks on clinics, schools, markets and factories may amount to war crimes. Saudi Arabia has either denied the attacks or cited the presence of fighters in the targeted areas and has said it has tried to reduce civilian casualties.

An Obama administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said “systemic, endemic” problems in Saudi Arabia’s targeting drove the U.S. decision to halt a future weapons sale involving precision-guided munitions.

“We’ve decided not to move forward with some foreign military sales cases for air-dropped munitions, PGMs (precision-guided munitions),” the official said.

“That’s obviously a direct reflection of the concerns that we have about Saudi strikes that have resulted in civilian casualties,” the official said. A second official confirmed the decision to suspend the sale of certain weaponry.

The officials declined to offer details. But a specific case put on hold appeared to involve the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of guidance systems manufactured by Raytheon Co that convert dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions that can more accurately hit their targets.

At the same time, the United States has decided to increase efforts to address long-standing Saudi concerns by focusing more on border security, the official said. The kingdom has been subject to cross-border attacks by the Iran-allied Houthis.

“They’ve made a very strong request for greater intelligence sharing and more support for their border,” the official said.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi embassy officials.

The White House launched a review of U.S. assistance for the Saudi-led coalition after planes struck mourners at a funeral in the capital, Sanaa, in October, killing 140 people, according to one U.N. estimate.

The United Nations human rights office said in August that the Saudi-led coalition was responsible for roughly 60 percent of the 3,800 civilians killed since March 2015.

Human rights groups have criticized the United States for supporting the Saudi war effort by selling the kingdom arms and refueling coalition jets. The United States says it has not vetted or selected Saudi targets in Yemen.

The Obama administration official said the United States would not halt refueling of the Saudi-led coalition planes.

“For now that’s not going to be touched. Again, the review could continue and people could make a different decision in the coming weeks,” the official said.

The decision to suspend the arms sale to the Saudis marks a reversal for the administration. Officials have long argued that supplying so-called “smart weapons” helped in reducing civilian casualties.

Last year, the Obama administration even had the U.S. military send precision-guided munitions from its own stocks to replenish dwindling Saudi-led coalition supplies, a source close to the Saudi government has said.

But that argument ultimately failed to convince the Obama administration during its review, which the first official said was still ongoing.

“It’s not a matter of how smart or dumb the bombs are, it’s that they’re not picking the right targets. The case in point ... is the one on the funeral,” the official said.

The airstrikes on the funeral took place after the Saudi-led coalition received incorrect information from Yemeni military figures that armed Houthi leaders were in the area, an investigative body set up by the coalition said in October.

In an effort to reduce civilian casualties, the United States gave the Saudis detailed lists of sites to avoid bombing, Reuters has previously reported. But jets in the Saudi-led coalition have hit at least one target on that list.

Earlier this year, the U.S. military reduced the number of U.S. military personnel coordinating with the Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign, slashing it to six people from a peak of 45 personnel.

“Their responsibilities are being adjusted and limited so that they are less enmeshed in some of the offensive operations in Yemen,” the official said.

Reuters reported earlier this year on concerns by some U.S. officials that the United States could be implicated in possible Saudi violations of the laws of war.

In the view of some officials, U.S. refueling and logistical support of Riyadh’s air force - even more than the arms sales - risked making the United States a party to the Yemen conflict under international law.

In May, Washington suspended sales to Riyadh of cluster munitions, which release dozens of bomblets and are considered particularly dangerous to civilians.

Last week, the State Department announced plans to sell Saudi Arabia CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters and related equipment, training and support worth $3.51 billion. U.S. officials said the weaponry would help Saudi defend its border, not conduct offensive operations in Yemen.</s>WASHINGTON — The United States is terminating some sales of military arms to Saudi Arabia over concerns about the killing of civilians in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday, while ramping up support for Saudi’s border defenses and other intelligence-sharing.

The decision to pull back planned sales of precision-guided munitions stems from a review ordered by the White House in October following the bombing of a funeral hall in Yemen that killed more than 140 people, thrusting longstanding concerns about civilian casualties into the spotlight. Human rights groups have said the Saudis have targeted houses, hospitals and schools, and have pressured the U.S. to withdraw support for the Saudi coalition, which is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In addition to halting the sales of munitions, the Obama administration is curbing some intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia that could be used in ways that would lead to civilian casualties, the official said, while declining to provide details. The U.S. also is looking to “refocus” the training it conducts for Saudi Arabia’s air force to address U.S. concerns about how the Saudis choose their targets.

The Pentagon, the State Department and other U.S. agencies were involved in the retooling of support for Saudi Arabia, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity. The official said the decision reflected deep concerns about Saudi targeting methods and the desire to show that U.S. military aid is not a “blank check.”

Other U.S. support for Saudi’s coalition will continue unimpeded, including refueling of coalition aircraft by the U.S. military. And the U.S. is increasing the amount of information and analysis it shares with Saudi Arabia about threats to the Saudi border, reflecting Saudi concerns about extremists crossing over the border from Yemen to launch attacks inside Saudi Arabia.

Other military sales to Saudi Arabia are expected to continue unimpeded, such as $3.5 billion worth of Chinook cargo helicopters and equipment that the State Department approved last week. That aid was intended to bolster the kingdom’s “homeland defense and deter regional threats,” a nod to Saudi concerns about attacks Houthi rebels have launched across the border in Saudi Arabia.

The mixed approach — scaling back support for the Saudis in some areas while increasing it in others — illustrated the complex military relationship between the two countries and Washington’s desire not to abandon the Saudis wholesale in Yemen. While the U.S. has been dismayed by the brash way the Saudis have prosecuted the conflict, the Obama administration has sought to keep the pressure on the Houthis, whose failure to abide by previous cease-fire deals has vexed diplomatic efforts to reduce violence.

The Saudis are leading a coalition of mostly Arab countries fighting on behalf of an internationally recognized government in Yemen. The conflict began in March 2015 and has killed roughly 9,000 people, creating a humanitarian crisis and famine conditions in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest nation.

Fueling U.S. concerns about the Shiite Houthis are their ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia’s chief rival for regional influence in the Middle East. The U.S. accuses Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis, with the U.S. Navy saying it has intercepted several boats carrying Iranian weapons suspected of being mid-journey to Yemen. Iran has said it supports the Houthis but has denied arming them.

In October, the U.S. involved itself even further in the conflict when the U.S. military launched missile strikes on Houthi-controlled radar sites, in what the U.S. called self-defense following Houthi missile fire on U.S. Navy ships. Previously, American military strikes in Yemen had been limited to drone strikes against the local al-Qaida affiliate.

Yet some lawmakers and human rights groups have suggested the U.S. could be considered complicit in Saudi war crimes in Yemen because of its support for the coalition, which has included advice on airstrikes.

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON — The United States is terminating some sales of military arms to Saudi Arabia over concerns about the killing of civilians in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday, while ramping up support for Saudi's border defenses and other intelligence-sharing.

The decision to pull back planned sales of precision-guided munitions stems from a review ordered by the White House in October following the bombing of a funeral hall in Yemen that killed more than 140 people, thrusting longstanding concerns about civilian casualties into the spotlight. The official wasn't authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity.

Human rights groups have said the Saudis have targeted houses, hospitals and schools, and have pressured the U.S. to withdraw support for the Saudi coalition, which is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In addition to halting the sales of munitions, the Obama administration is curbing some intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia that could be used in ways that would lead to civilian casualties, officials said, though they declined to offer details. The U.S. also is looking to "refocus" the training it conducts for Saudi Arabia's air force to address U.S. concerns about how the Saudis choose their targets.

Other U.S. support for Saudi's coalition will continue unimpeded, including refueling of coalition aircraft by the U.S. military. And the U.S. is increasing the amount of information and analysis it shares with Saudi Arabia about threats to the Saudi border, reflecting Saudi concerns about extremists crossing over the border from Yemen to launch attacks inside Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis are leading a coalition of mostly Arab countries fighting on behalf of an internationally recognized government in Yemen, against Houthi rebels that the U.S. says are receiving arms supplies from Iran. The conflict began in March 2015 and has killed roughly 9,000 people, creating a humanitarian crisis and famine conditions in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation.</s>"We are continually assessing the appropriate level of support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, to ensure it is consistent with our foreign policy goals and values," one official said. "Recently, we decided to make some adjustments to that support that will enable us to further support a strong defense of the Saudi border."

The suspension includes precision-guided munitions, the officials said, citing systemic problems with Saudi targeting in the campaign in Yemen. Riyadh is supporting the ousted government there in its battle with Iranian-backed rebels.

The US has grown increasingly concerned about Saudi tactics in a near two-year war that has become a humanitarian catastrophe, killing more than 10,000, displacing 3 million and causing widespread food shortages.

"It was an interagency review, involving the State Department, Department of Defense and other relevant departments and agencies responsible for security assistance programming," according to a US defense official.

"The goal of the review was to ensure that our limited support for the Saudi-led coalition is consistent with our foreign policy goals and values," one of the officials said. "We continue to have concerns about the conflict in Yemen and how it has been waged, most especially the air campaign," the official continued. "This review reflects our continued, strong concerns with the flaws in the coalition's targeting practices and overall prosecution of the air campaign in Yemen. " As part of the review of the campaign in Yemen, the administration is also retooling programs for training of Saudis Arabia's air force to improve its targeting practices, the officials said. One of the officials added that the US is "also exploring how to refocus training for the Saudi air force to address these kinds of issues. We have also undertaken steps to refocus our information-sharing and our personnel in Saudi Arabia. " The administration has pushed a political settlement as the best way for Saudi Arabia to protect its border. Last month Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Oman to negotiate a ceasefire between Riyadh and the Iran-allied Houthi movement, even meeting with Houthis himself.</s>WASHINGTON -- The United States is terminating some sales of military arms to Saudi Arabia over concerns about the killing of civilians in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday, while ramping up support for Saudi's border defenses and other intelligence-sharing.

The decision to pull back planned sales of precision-guided munitions stems from a review ordered by the White House in October after the bombing of a funeral hall in Yemen that killed more than 140 people, thrusting long-standing concerns about civilian casualties into the spotlight. Human-rights groups have said the Saudis have targeted houses, hospitals and schools, and have pressured the U.S. to withdraw support for the Saudi coalition, which is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In addition to halting the sales of munitions, the Obama administration is curbing some intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia that could be used in ways that would lead to civilian casualties, the official said, while declining to provide details. The U.S. also is looking to "refocus" the training it conducts for Saudi Arabia's air force to address U.S. concerns about how the Saudis choose their targets.

"This is not a punitive measure; it's a corrective measure," the official said. "We have to be careful not to cut back on things that serve our interests in the process of trying to cut back on things that don't serve our interest."

The Pentagon, the State Department and other U.S. agencies were involved in the retooling of support for Saudi Arabia, said the official, who wasn't authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity. The official said the decision reflected deep concerns about Saudi targeting methods and the desire to show that U.S. military aid is not a "blank check."

The administration has also decided to shelve the planned sale of $390 million worth of guidance systems for precision munitions to Saudi Arabia. Some rights groups have called for a suspension of arms sales by the United States and other countries, pointing to the repeated appearance of U.S. munitions at the sites of Saudi strikes on civilian targets.

The United States will also retool its training for the Saudi air force to resolve "some of their structural, endemic problems with their targeting practices," the official said, and will maintain only a small presence of U.S. military personnel at a Saudi command center in Riyadh.

"Either they will take that to heart and they will listen to us more, or, at a minimum, we will no longer be providing assistance to some of their practices," the official said.

Other military sales to Saudi Arabia and the Saudis' coalition are expected to continue unimpeded, such as $3.5 billion worth of Chinook cargo helicopters and equipment that the State Department approved last week. The sales were intended to bolster the kingdom's "homeland defense and deter regional threats," a nod to Saudi concerns about attacks Houthi rebels have launched across the border into Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for the Saudi military was not available for comment.

While the changes are an acknowledgment that U.S. attempts to urge greater Saudi restraint have failed, they mostly tweak around the margins of a military relationship that has been central to U.S. goals in the Middle East. According to the Congressional Research Service, the United States concluded $58 billion in arms deals to Saudi Arabia from fiscal 2009 to 2015.

The Saudis are leading a coalition of mostly Arab countries fighting on behalf of an internationally recognized government in Yemen. The conflict began in March 2015 and has killed roughly 9,000 people, creating a humanitarian crisis and famine conditions in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation.

Fueling U.S. concerns about the Shiite Houthis are their ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia's chief rival for regional influence in the Middle East. The U.S. accuses Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis, with the U.S. Navy saying it has intercepted several boats carrying Iranian weapons suspected of being mid-journey to Yemen. Iran has said it supports the Houthis but has denied arming them.

In October, the U.S. involved itself even further in the conflict when the U.S. military launched missile strikes on Houthi-controlled radar sites, in what the U.S. called self-defense after Houthi missile fire on U.S. Navy ships. Previously, U.S. military strikes in Yemen had been limited to drone strikes against the local al-Qaida affiliate.

Information for this article was contributed by Josh Lederman and Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press and by Missy Ryan of The Washington Post.</s>Boris Johnson’s comments on Saudi Arabia fighting a proxy war in Yemen could wreck everything the UK is trying to do to end the civil war in the country, MPs have been told.



The claim was made in the Commons by the former chairman of the home affairs select committee, Keith Vaz, who also warned that Johnson’s remarks left Britain’s role as an honest broker in Yemen under threat.

The Speaker, John Bercow, granted Vaz permission to demand that the government clarify its support for the Saudi role in Yemen in light of the foreign secretary’s claim that Saudi Arabia was “puppeteering” to fight a proxy war with Iran.

Johnson’s comments last week earned him an unprecedented rebuke from No 10.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, joined Vaz on Monday in claiming the episode showed how the UK’s support for the Saudi coalition lacked both “consistency and principle”. She said policy was instead driven by “sheer absolute hypocrisy”.

However, Thornberry praised Johnson’s criticism of Saudi Arabia, and condemned Downing Street for forcing the foreign secretary to go to Riyadh at the weekend to explain himself. Johnson has insisted he will continue to be candid with the UK’s allies, and has refused to apologise for his remarks.

Thornberry also demanded to know what was preventing the UK from tabling a UN security council resolution on Yemen, calling for a ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid.

In the Commons, the foreign office minister Tobias Ellwood did not directly address Johnson’s claim of a proxy war, instead insisting that the UK’s support for the Saudis was in line with UN security council resolutions. He said he hoped a fresh ceasefire resolution would soon emerge, and that the delay was caused by the complexity of the political crisis.

Thousands have been killed in the 18-month war in Yemen, and famine has spread across the country, partly due to aid agencies not getting full access to the port of Aden.

But in a fresh sign that the Foreign Office is more willing, under Johnson’s leadership, to challenge aspects of foreign policy in the Gulf, Ellwood revealed he had formally urged all six Gulf states to sign up to the international convention banning the use of cluster munitions.

He said Britain condemned the weapons’ use and that he had personally told the six Gulf foreign ministers at the weekend that they should sign up to treaty. “I absolutely condemn the use of cluster munitions,” he said. “They lay around the battlefield until it turns into a civilian arena, and that is why they cause damage.”

Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly criticised for the use of cluster munitions in Yemen. The weapons leave mini-bomblets that can explode much later, killing civilians.

Ellwood also said he would support an independent inquiry into war crimes by both sides in the Yemen civil war if the Saudi’s own inquiry proved unworthy. But he stressed that Saudi Arabia was a conservative country that was slow to adapt to the rules governing 21st-century sustained warfare.

Ellwood’s remarks on cluster munitions may represent a hardening of the government position. In a letter last month to the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, he appeared more equivocal. “The UK takes the view that cluster munitions are not prima facie illegal and can be used in compliance with international law by states that are not party to to the convention providing they are used in a manner compatible with international humanitarian law including distinction, proportionality and the obligations to take precautions.”

The UK is a longstanding signatory to the treaty.

Johnson himself is likely to appear in the Commons on Tuesday morning after the Speaker granted the former Tory cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell two hours for an emergency debate on the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo.

Pleading for MPs to discuss the crisis, Mitchell cited reports that sarin and chlorine gas have been used in the city, which would constitute a war crime, as evidence of the need for immediate action.

“Many of these terrified civilians trapped in this hell hole, which now resembles Stalingrad at the end of its destruction, are children,” Mitchell said. “They have few places to hide. Tomorrow [Tuesday] night in Aleppo, the temperature is expected to reach minus four degrees.”

Mitchell said MPs should decide “what, in the name of humanity, we the international community will do to save those who today are in such dreadful jeopardy”.

Ministers have ruled out seeking to provide aid without Russian permission, and are now focused on the extent to which the UK should continue to support the forces opposed to the Assad government.</s>MANAMA: There has been progress regarding the Saudi-led coalition’s transparency and investigation of claims of civilian casualties in the conflict in Yemen, US Central Command spokesman Col. John J. Thomas told Arab News.

“We encourage investigations of claims of civilian casualties and encourage transparency, and I think we’ve seen progress there,” he said at the end of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, which discussed the conflicts in Yemen and Syria, Gulf defense cooperation, and international cooperation against terrorism.

“The more that is understood about such incidents, the better they can be prevented in the future.”

Thomas said Central Command urged all parties to deescalate the conflict in Yemen, exercise restraint, comply with international law and take all precautions to protect civilians.

Central Command also urged all parties to allow aid to the civilian population, including food, medicine and fuel via international relief organizations, he added.

Thomas said military action was sometimes necessary, but long-term stability required diplomatic and political solutions.

“The US coordinates with Saudi Arabia and coalition partners on issues related to their security and shared interests,” said Thomas. “We do not give direct or indirect approval on target selection or execution.”

The US provides “logistical assistance, including aerial refueling, expertise and information about best practices to the Saudis, in defense of Saudi territorial integrity when requested,” he said.

“We work with them to help them be as effective as possible, through training and military advice,” he added.</s>On 21 August, hundreds - perhaps over a thousand - people were killed in a chemical weapon attack in Ghouta, Damascus, prompting the US, UK, Israel and France to raise the spectre of military strikes against Bashir al Assad's forces.

The latest episode is merely one more horrific event in a conflict that has increasingly taken on genocidal characteristics. The case for action at first glance is indisputable. The UN now confirms a death toll over 100,000 people, the vast majority of whom have been killed by Assad's troops. An estimated 4.5 million people have been displaced from their homes. International observers have overwhelmingly confirmed Assad's complicity in the preponderance of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Syrian people. The illegitimacy of his regime, and the legitimacy of the uprising, is clear.

Experts are unanimous that the shocking footage of civilians, including children, suffering the effects of some sort of chemical attack, is real - but remain divided on whether it involved military-grade chemical weapons associated with Assad's arsenal, or were a more amateur concoction potentially linked to the rebels.

Whatever the case, few recall that US agitation against Syria began long before recent atrocities, in the context of wider operations targeting Iranian influence across the Middle East.

In May 2007, a presidential finding revealed that Bush had authorised CIA operations against Iran. Anti-Syria operations were also in full swing around this time as part of this covert programme, according to Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker. A range of US government and intelligence sources told him that the Bush administration had "cooperated with Saudi Arabia's government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations" intended to weaken the Shi'ite Hezbollah in Lebanon. "The US has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria," wrote Hersh, "a byproduct" of which is "the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups" hostile to the United States and "sympathetic to al-Qaeda." He noted that "the Saudi government, with Washington's approval, would provide funds and logistical aid to weaken the government of President Bashir Assad, of Syria," with a view to pressure him to be "more conciliatory and open to negotiations" with Israel. One faction receiving covert US "political and financial support" through the Saudis was the exiled Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.

According to former French foreign minister Roland Dumas, Britain had planned covert action in Syria as early as 2009: "I was in England two years before the violence in Syria on other business", he told French television:

The 2011 uprisings, it would seem - triggered by a confluence of domestic energy shortages and climate-induced droughts which led to massive food price hikes - came at an opportune moment that was quickly exploited. Leaked emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor including notes from a meeting with Pentagon officials confirmed US-UK training of Syrian opposition forces since 2011 aimed at eliciting "collapse" of Assad's regime "from within."

So what was this unfolding strategy to undermine Syria and Iran all about? According to retired NATO Secretary General Wesley Clark, a memo from the Office of the US Secretary of Defense just a few weeks after 9/11 revealed plans to "attack and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years", starting with Iraq and moving on to "Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran." In a subsequent interview, Clark argues that this strategy is fundamentally about control of the region's vast oil and gas resources.

Much of the strategy currently at play was candidly described in a 2008 US Army-funded RAND report, Unfolding the Future of the Long War (pdf). The report noted that "the economies of the industrialized states will continue to rely heavily on oil, thus making it a strategically important resource." As most oil will be produced in the Middle East, the US has "motive for maintaining stability in and good relations with Middle Eastern states":

In this context, the report identified several potential trajectories for regional policy focused on protecting access to Gulf oil supplies, among which the following are most salient:

Exploring different scenarios for this trajectory, the report speculated that the US may concentrate "on shoring up the traditional Sunni regimes in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Pakistan as a way of containing Iranian power and influence in the Middle East and Persian Gulf." Noting that this could actually empower al-Qaeda jihadists, the report concluded that doing so might work in western interests by bogging down jihadi activity with internal sectarian rivalry rather than targeting the US:

The RAND document contextualised this disturbing strategy with surprisingly prescient recognition of the increasing vulnerability of the US's key allies and enemies - Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Egypt, Syria, Iran - to a range of converging crises: rapidly rising populations, a 'youth bulge', internal economic inequalities, political frustrations, sectarian tensions, and environmentally-linked water shortages, all of which could destabilise these countries from within or exacerbate inter-state conflicts.

The report noted especially that Syria is among several "downstream countries that are becoming increasingly water scarce as their populations grow", increasing a risk of conflict. Thus, although the RAND document fell far short of recognising the prospect of an 'Arab Spring', it illustrates that three years before the 2011 uprisings, US defence officials were alive to the region's growing instabilities, and concerned by the potential consequences for stability of Gulf oil.

These strategic concerns, motivated by fear of expanding Iranian influence, impacted Syria primarily in relation to pipeline geopolitics. In 2009 - the same year former French foreign minister Dumas alleges the British began planning operations in Syria - Assad refused to sign a proposed agreement with Qatar that would run a pipeline from the latter's North field, contiguous with Iran's South Pars field, through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, with a view to supply European markets - albeit crucially bypassing Russia. An Agence France-Presse report claimed Assad's rationale was "to protect the interests of [his] Russian ally, which is Europe's top supplier of natural gas".

Instead, the following year, Assad pursued negotiations for an alternative $10 billion pipeline plan with Iran, across Iraq to Syria, that would also potentially allow Iran to supply gas to Europe from its South Pars field shared with Qatar. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project was signed in July 2012 - just as Syria's civil war was spreading to Damascus and Aleppo - and earlier this year Iraq signed a framework agreement for construction of the gas pipelines. 

 

The Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline plan was a "direct slap in the face" to Qatar's plans. No wonder Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, in a failed attempt to bribe Russia to switch sides, told President Vladmir Putin that "whatever regime comes after" Assad, it will be "completely" in Saudi Arabia's hands and will "not sign any agreement allowing any Gulf country to transport its gas across Syria to Europe and compete with Russian gas exports", according to diplomatic sources. When Putin refused, the Prince vowed military action.

It would seem that contradictory self-serving Saudi and Qatari oil interests are pulling the strings of an equally self-serving oil-focused US policy in Syria, if not the wider region. It is this - the problem of establishing a pliable opposition which the US and its oil allies feel confident will play ball, pipeline-style, in a post-Assad Syria - that will determine the nature of any prospective intervention: not concern for Syrian life.

What is beyond doubt is that Assad is a war criminal whose government deserves to be overthrown. The question is by whom, and for what interests?
• This article was amended on 7 October 2015 to provide clearer attribution to a quote about tAssad's rationale for rejecting Qatar's proposed oil pipeline.

Dr Nafeez Ahmed is executive director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development and author of A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilisation: And How to Save It among other books. Follow him on Twitter @nafeezahmed

A more detailed in-depth special report based on this article is available at the author's website here.
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