Saudi Arabia looks for an exit to the war in Yemen

RARELY HAS Saudi Arabia sounded so magnanimous. For five years it has been fighting the Houthis, a group of Shia rebels in Yemen, on behalf of the government they toppled. The war has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure and killed more than 100,000 people. But on April 8th Saudi Arabia and its allies promised to lay down their arms for two weeks. The reason for the ceasefire, said a Saudi official, was “to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people and maintain their health and safety”. Two days later Yemen, the region’s poorest country, announced its first confirmed case of covid-19.Cynics doubt that compassion is truly motivating Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni nation. For years its bombs have hit hospitals, houses and schools in Yemen—often, it seemed, on purpose. Rather, the war is turning and the Saudis are losing heart.