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The world-renowned Yemeni government announced Monday that it would participate in the proposed peace talks just hours after a senior Yemeni rebel leader urged his leaders to freeze military operations.
This decision comes before the visit in the coming days of the war-torn country by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, who is again trying to bring all parties together around the negotiating table.
"The government has informed the UN envoy to Yemen (…) that it will send a government delegation to the talks with the aim of finding a political solution," said the Yemeni Foreign Ministry, quoted by the official Saba news agency.
Earlier, Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, chairman of the Higher Committee of Revolution and Revolutionary Personalities and influential political personality, had tweeted that he wanted his group to announce "his willingness to suspend and interrupt all operations. military "and stop firing missiles at Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh, which supports the Yemeni government, also supported further discussions.
Iran-backed Huthi rebels control the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, since it captured it at the end of 2014. They still hold the key port of Hodeida on the Red Sea in what has become a brutal war of almost four years, which pushed millions of the edge of famine.
The rebels have also launched hundreds of ballistic missiles on neighboring Saudi Arabia, which since 2015 has been leading a military coalition to reinstate the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Mohammed Ali al-Huthi called on "all the Yemeni official (huthi) parties to give directives to end the launch of missiles and drones against the countries of aggression", which "would deprive them of any reason to pursue their aggression and their siege ".
Griffiths is expected to visit the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, this week to finalize arrangements for peace talks in Sweden. No date has yet been set for the negotiations.
On Monday, Saudi King Salman, Salman, told the Shura Council, the highest consultative body in his country, "our support for Yemen was not an option but a duty …". help the Yemeni people to cope with the militias backed by Iran ".
He also advocated for a "political solution" and a "comprehensive national dialogue" in Yemen.
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Mohammed Ali al-Huthi is head of the Higher Committee of the Rebel Revolution, but is not their main decision maker. This power belongs to the supreme leader Abdulmalek al-Huthi.
Mr Griffiths said that the Saudi-backed government and the Huthi rebels have shown a "renewed commitment" to a political solution.
Several past attempts at negotiations between the government alliance and the Huthi have failed.
In September, the rebels refused to travel to Geneva for talks held by the UN. But on Friday, Griffiths proposed to travel with the Huthis in Sweden "if it is necessary".
The rebels, whose delegates were stranded in Oman for three months after the failure of previous talks, had accused the world body of not having guaranteed the return of their delegation to Sanaa or having evacuated the wounded fighters.
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Huthi Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf Abdallah met with UN officials Sunday night, according to the rebel Saba news agency.
According to him, the UN and the international community should "adopt the political path to end the bloodshed".
Britain is scheduled to present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Monday to address the crisis, its ambassador said on Friday.
British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt arrived here on Monday for the first time to discuss Tehran's role in Yemen, where he met his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.
"We are very very keen to make progress towards peace in Yemen, which is our number one priority at the moment," Hunt told British television after the talks.
Fighting in Yemen intensified in early November when the coalition resumed an offensive to seize Hodeida, whose port serves as a point of entry for virtually all imports and exports. humanitarian aid of the country.
But pro-government forces announced a pause in their offensive last week, as international pressure for a ceasefire intensified.
An AFP correspondent in Hodeida said on Monday that the city had remained calm, although rebel-run television channel Al-Masirah said the coalition had carried out seven air strikes in the surrounding province and one in the city of Hodeida.
The rebels also announced new clashes on a front near Sanaa on Monday, Al-Masirah said.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi intervention in March 2015, but advocacy groups estimate that the toll could be five times higher.
The war in Yemen – already one of the poorest countries in the world – has left the country on the verge of starvation, causing what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
Armored vehicles from Yemeni pro-government forces have been seen crossing the destruction in an industrial district in the eastern suburbs of the besieged port city of Hodeida
In this archival photo taken on September 20, 2018, Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, chairman of the Supreme Committee of the Revolutionary Revolution Huthi rebels, makes gestures during a demonstration in Sanaa in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of their takeover of the Yemeni capital.
Yemeni child plays in the old city of Sanaa on November 13, 2018
A journalist examines a destroyed warehouse in an industrial district in the eastern suburbs of the Yemeni port city of Hodeida on November 18, 2018, during the ongoing battle for control of the city between pro-government forces and Huthi rebels
