June 1, 2022
Thank you, Your Excellency. It has been an honor to be here in Aden today to present my credentials to President al-Alimi as the new U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen.
In our meetings today with the President, other members of the Presidential Leadership Council, the Prime Minister, and the Foreign Minister, I underscored my personal commitment to strengthening our bilateral ties and to building on the positive steps of the last few months.
As Ambassador, I look forward to engaging frequently not only with our friends in the Yemeni government, but also with members of Yemen’s civil society, the Yemeni business community, and other Yemeni partners, both inside Yemen and in the diaspora.
The current UN-brokered truce is the most significant step towards peace in many years. The willingness of Yemenis to put aside their differences and seek common ground has created a chance for peace. We hope that Yemenis can build on the truce and ultimately pave the way for a durable, just, and inclusive resolution to the conflict.
Thanks to the support of U.S. Congress, the U.S. government has helped led the humanitarian response to the dire conditions in Yemen created by the conflict. I look forward to ensuring that the international community continues to robustly support efforts to bring relief to the Yemeni people. I also look forward to supporting the Government of Yemen’s efforts to implement the fiscal and economic reforms needed to bolster Yemen’s economy and slowly reduce the need for international aid.
Just as I arrived in the region last week, we received the tragic news that a former employee of USAID in Sana’a, Abdulhameed Al-Ajami, had died in a Houthi prison. I want to take this opportunity to extend my deepest condolences to Abdulhameed’s family and friends. I call on the Houthis to release from detention all the current and former U.S. Embassy employees they are holding, and all the Yemeni people they are holding unjustly.
Once again, thank you, Mr. Foreign Minister, for your warm welcome today. I look forward to building on the strong and historic partnership between the United States and Yemen and to helping the people of Yemen forge a more peaceful, prosperous, and hopeful future.
