Saudi delegation arrives in Yemen for talks with Houthi Islamists
This comes a month after the Saudis' shock China-brokered rapprochement Iran
A Saudi delegation was in Yemen's capital on Sunday to negotiate a potential new truce with the Iran-backed Houthi Islamist rebels who control the city, diplomats said, as Riyadh sought a way out of the war.
The Saudi officials are "in Sanaa to discuss moving forward to create peace in Yemen," an unnamed Yemeni diplomat was quoted in Arabic media as saying.
Also Sunday, Abdul-Qader el-Murtaza, a Houthi official in charge of prisoner exchange talks in Yemen’s conflict, said 13 Houthi prisoners arrived in Sanaa, adding that the prisoners were released in exchange for a Saudi prisoner held by the Houthis.
The delegation's arrival comes roughly a month after China mediated a surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, fueling hopes for progress on ending the Yemen conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and precipitated what is regarded by many as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The top Saudi and Iranian diplomats met in Beijing on Thursday, pledging to work together to bring "security and stability" to their turbulent region.
The Houthis seized the city in 2014, triggering the conflict with the internationally recognized government, which has been backed for eight years by a military coalition led by Riyadh.
A truce announced roughly a year ago has significantly reduced active hostilities within Yemen and is still largely respected, even though it officially expired in October.
A Yemeni government source was quoted in the media as saying that the Saudis and Houthis had agreed in principle on a six-month truce to pave the way for three months of talks on establishing a two-year "transition" for the war-torn country, which is the poorest in the region.
