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.
Mohammed al-Bukaiti, a Houthi leader, said earlier on Twitter that Saudi and Omani officials would discuss “ways to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.” In comments to The Associated Press, Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy for Yemen, described the ongoing efforts, including the Saudi and Omani talks in Sanaa, as “the closest Yemen has been to real progress towards lasting peace” since the war began.
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. Saudi Arabia and the Houthis reached a draft deal last month to revive a cease-fire that expired in October.
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