World News Desk!! Europe News Desk!! A Saudi delegation arrived in Yemen’s capital here to hold ceasefire talks with the Houthi militia. The Saudi delegation along with Omani officials arrived here to meet Mahdi al-Mashat, chairman of the political council of the Houthis, to discuss arrangements for renewing the ceasefire deal that expired in October 2022, Xinhua news agency reported. The move is part of Oman’s mediation efforts to bring peace to Yemen, an official said. Oman, which borders both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, is actively engaged in brokering a ceasefire in Yemen in coordination with UN peacekeeping efforts. Muhammad al-Bukhati, a member of the Yemeni Shura Council and a prominent leader of the Houthi group, told Xinhua that the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Muhammad Al Jaber, arrived in Yemen’s capital on Saturday as the head of the Saudi delegation.
Also on Saturday, the Houthi group said that 13 prisoners of war released by Saudi Arabia were released in exchange for a Saudi prisoner. Peace efforts to end the war in Yemen are on the rise following recent Chinese efforts to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran and restore diplomatic ties. The conflict in Yemen began in late 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi militias seized control of several northern cities and ousted the Saudi-backed Yemeni government from the capital, Sanaa. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the Yemeni government. The war killed thousands, displaced four million people and pushed the country to the brink of starvation.
–IANS
SGK