Yemeni leader, Saudi envoy discuss ways to end civil war

This was Al Jaber’s first visit to the strategic port city of Aden, where the Yemeni government is temporarily based, after his visit to the Houthis-held capital of Sanaa last month…reports Asian Lite News

The Yemeni government leader met with the Saudi ambassador to Yemen on Tuesday to discuss the Saudi-mediated efforts to renew a cease-fire and reach a political settlement to end the country’s civil war.

Rashad Al-Alimi, the chief of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), held a meeting with Saudi Ambassador Muhammad Al Jaber in the southern port city of Aden, the state-run Saba news agency reported.

The meeting focused on Saudi Arabia’s efforts to mediate the renewal of cease-fire, mitigate human suffering, and explore ways to achieve a comprehensive political solution in Yemen under the auspices of the United Nations.

This was Al Jaber’s first visit to the strategic port city of Aden, where the Yemeni government is temporarily based, after his visit to the Houthis-held capital of Sanaa last month.

The Houthi militia previously announced that Saudi and Omani delegations had conducted “serious and positive discussions” with them regarding the efforts to end the 9-year civil war.

Last week, clashes broke out between government forces and Houthi militia in southwestern governorate of Taiz, resulting in multiple casualties, a government military official said to Xinhua.

The conflict, which lasted for several hours, was triggered by an attempted infiltration by Houthi fighters into positions held by Yemeni government forces on the eastern outskirts of Taiz province, said the local military source, who requested anonymity, on Saturday.

The government forces successfully repelled the Houthi assault, resulting in the death of four Houthi fighters and injuries to five others, the official confirmed, adding that two soldiers from the government side lost their lives during the fighting, Xinhua news agency reported.

The recent fighting in Taiz coincides with attempts of regional and global powers to make headway in diplomatic endeavours towards restarting negotiations between the warring factions in Yemen, with the aim of renewing a prior humanitarian truce that was facilitated by the UN.

Intermittent armed clashes have renewed in several regions in the war-ravaged Arab country since a UN-mediated cease-fire expired in October of last year.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi fighters took over several northern provinces and drove the Yemeni government out of Sanaa. 

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