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Agencies
Paris
The US administration has asked Saudi Arabia to temper its actions with regard to Qatar, Yemen and Lebanon, in an unusually blunt criticism of the historic US ally.
Speaking in Paris on Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Saudi Arabia to take a more cautious approach to regional conflicts.
"With respect to Saudi Arabia's engagement with Qatar, how they're handling the Yemen war that they're engaged in, the Lebanon situation, we would encourage them to be a bit more measured and a bit more thoughtful in those actions to, I think, fully consider the consequences," he said.
Riyadh was the driving force behind the blockade of Qatar.
Tillerson said he supports Kuwaiti attempts to broker an end to the stand-off.
Amid reports of new civilian deaths in Yemen, Tillerson once again demanded a"complete end" to the Saudi-led blockade of Yemen so that humanitarian aid and commercial supplies could be delivered.
Tillerson's comments came as Yemeni officials said air raids launched by a Saudi-led military coalition had killed at least 23 civilians, including women and children, in the country's north.
Adding more detail to US President Donald Trump's demand, Tillerson said,"We have called for ” and President Trump himself called for this week ” a complete end to the blockade of Yemen and the reopening of all the ports."
The opening should apply, he said,"to not just humanitarian assistance but commercial deliveries as well, because about 80 percent of the food comes in by commercial shipments. We are asking that Saudi Arabia allow that access."
Saudi Arabia also appears to have played a murky role in the recent political crisis in Lebanon, which began on November 4 when Lebanese premier Saad Hariri appeared on television in Riyadh to announce his resignation.
