Houthi leader denies secret talks with Riyadh
Houthi leader denies secret talks with Riyadh
Both the coalition and a senior Houthi leader denied they were holding talks with Riyadh to end the Yemen war.
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Houthi fighter inspects the damage after a Saudi airstrike in Sanaa [Getty]
A senior Houthi leader and a coalition official both denied that the Houthis were holding secret talks with Riyadh to end the Yemen war.
"There are those who say that [Houthi spokesman] Mohammed Abdul-Salam wants to blackmail us and we know that Saudi Arabia is not ready for peace and that its decision is not in its own hands. Otherwise we would sit at the negotiating table," said Saleh al-Samad, head of the Supreme Political Council.
"There are those who say that [Houthi spokesman] Mohammed Abdul-Salam wants to blackmail us and we know that Saudi Arabia is not ready for peace and that its decision is not in its own hands. Otherwise we would sit at the negotiating table," said Saleh al-Samad, head of the Supreme Political Council.
Reuters recently reported that two diplomats and two Yemeni officials said Abdul-Salam had been in direct contact with Saudi officials in Oman.
“There are consultations between the Houthis and the Saudis, without a representative of the internationally recognised government, and it is clear that there is a desire of the Houthis and the coalition to go toward a comprehensive agreement,” one diplomat told Reuters.
The Houthis, who hail from the Zaydi Shia sect, seized Yemen's capital Sanaa and drove out the internationally-recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. He now lives in exile in Riyadh.
Riyadh considers the Houthis to be backed by its arch-rival Iran, a charge the Houthis deny.
At least 10,000 Yemenis have died since Saudi Arabia began its bombing campaign in March 2015. There are also up to one million cholera cases in the country, and the UN has called Yemen the "world's worst humanitarian crisis".
The hoped-for end to the war would begin with a nationwide ceasefire and culminate with a peace deal, sources told Reuters.
At least 10,000 Yemenis have died since Saudi Arabia began its bombing campaign in March 2015. There are also up to one million cholera cases in the country, and the UN has called Yemen the "world's worst humanitarian crisis".
The hoped-for end to the war would begin with a nationwide ceasefire and culminate with a peace deal, sources told Reuters.
With none of the warring parties able to secure an outright victory, both Saudi officials and Houthi fighters have reportedly expressed a desire to wrap up the conflict.
The diplomatic sources said that the Saudi-Houthi dialogue has been ongoing for two months. The goal is to establish a framework for peace that coincides with the arrival of Martin Griffiths, the new UN envoy to Yemen.
The last time UN-backed peace talks between the Houthis and Yemen's internationally-recognised government were held was in August 2016.
At that time, and during two prior rounds of negotiations in Switzerland, no deal was struck.
If true, the negotiations bypass Yemen's government exiled in Riyadh - Saudi Arabia began its intervention to restore the Hadi government in Yemen.
The Hadi government has stepped up its criticism of the coalition in recent days, saying officials in Riyadh were barring them from returning to the country.
Hadi was last in Yemen in February 2017.
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