White House says 'job is not done' in Yemen

WASHINGTON - Yemen remains unstable and much more work needs to be done in the region, despite a declared halt to the Saudi-led bombing campaign in the country, the White House said on Wednesday. "Obviously, the job is not done," Jen Psaki, White House communications director, said on CNN. Tuesday's announcement by Saudi Arabia that it would end its campaign of air strikes against the Iranian-allied Houthis drew positive responses from the White House and Tehran, as well as fresh calls for peace talks and for humanitarian aid. Saudi Arabia said its month-old campaign against the Houthis, who had seized large areas in Yemen, had met its goals but rival forces fought on in Yemen on Wednesday. Psaki acknowledged problems remain in the country. "There is remaining instability in the region, in Yemen," she said. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done and we're going to be doubling down and continuing to work on that with our partners around the world." Saudi Arabia's leading role against the Houthis has turned Yemen into the latest theater of a regional proxy conflict between the Gulf's leading Sunni Muslim and Shi'ite Muslim powers - a struggle also playing out in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Psaki said all parties in Yemen need to come together to reach a diplomatic solution. "There no other solution that's going to work," she told CNN. "This is not a war that can be fought on the battlefield." - Reuters