This Handshake Offers Hope in 9-Year War

Saudi officials visit Yemen’s capital for talks with rebels
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 10, 2023 12:30 AM CDT
This Handshake Offers Hope in 9-Year War
Ansar Allah, head of the Houthi’s supreme political council Mahdi al-Mashat, left, shakes hands with Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber, in Sanaa, Yemen.   (Ansar Allah Media Office)

Saudi officials were in Yemen's capital Sunday for talks with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, as part of international efforts to find a settlement to Yemen’s nine-year conflict, officials said. Saudi Arabia’s delegation, chaired by the kingdom’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber, will hold talks with with Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi’s supreme political council, which runs rebel-held areas in Yemen, according to the Houthi-run SABA news agency. An Omani delegation, which arrived in Sanaa on Saturday, will also join the talks, the agency reported, citing an unidentified source, per the AP.

Mohammed al-Bukaiti, a Houthi leader, said on Twitter that Saudi and Omani officials would discuss “ways to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.” He said achieving an honorable peace between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia would be "a triumph for both parties,” and urged all sides to take steps to “preserve a peaceful atmosphere and prepare to turn the page of the past.” There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia. The office of the UN envoy for Yemen didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The talks in Sanaa are part of international efforts led by Oman to settle Yemen’s conflict, which began in 2014. That's when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country’s north, ousting the internationally recognized government that fled to the south and then into exile in Saudi Arabia. The Houthi move prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene months later in a bid to restore the internationally recognized government to power. The conflict has in recent years turned into a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saudi Arabia and the Houthis reached a draft deal last month to revive a cease-fire that expired in October. The deal is meant to usher in a return to Yemeni political talks, according to Saudi and Yemeni officials.

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They said the Saudi-Houthi understandings include a six-month truce with a cessation of all military activities across Yemen. The Houthis have committed to coming to the table with other Yemeni parties to negotiate a political settlement to the conflict, they said. The United Nations is meant to facilitate the political negotiations, they added. Both parties also agreed to further ease restrictions by the Saudi-led coalition on Sanaa’s airport and the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports in Hodeida, the officials said. The Houthis would lift their yearslong blockade on Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city which is held by government forces, they said.

(More Yemen stories.)

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