(MENAFN- The Peninsula) A Saudi-led coalition declared an end yesterday to four weeks of air strikes in Yemen, saying the threat of Iran-backed rebels there had been removed and that operations are entering a
political phase.
Qatar welcomed the end of operation "Determination Storm" and the start of operation "Restore Hope", QNA reported.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement yesterday that the operation was in response to the will of the people of Yemen and the Yemeni government to support and protect the legitimacy and Yemeni people from practices of the armed militias and their agents, stressing that all the aspired objectives have been achieved, said QNA.
The Saudi-led coalition left open the option of resuming strikes if the movements of the Houthi rebels warrant it, while adding that a naval blockade on the strategic country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula will continue.
The announcement came as a US aircraft carrier was headed to the Arabian Sea, with Washington saying it was monitoring Iranian vessels suspected of carrying weapons to the rebels in violation of a UN embargo.
The coalition has "ended Operation Decisive Storm based on a request by the Yemeni government and President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi," its spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed
Al Assiri, said in Riyadh.
The operation, which began March 26, will continue until midnight. A coalition statement said the next step would aim to resume the political process in Yemen, delivering aid and "fighting terrorism" in the country, home to a deadly Al Qaeda franchise.
The Saudi defence ministry said the air strikes had managed "to successfully remove threats to Saudi Arabia's security and that of neighbouring countries".
The UN health agency said more than 900 people have been killed since the strikes were launched. And the International Organization for Migration announced a suspension of its evacuation efforts due to insecurity. Amid reports of a nine-ship Iranian convoy in the area, the US Navy said it was sending in the USS Theodore Roosevelt and guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said media reports suggesting the Americans were preparing to prevent the Iranian convoy from reaching Yemen if it was carrying arms were "a bit over-cranked".
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