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A senior Yemeni rebel leader on Monday urged his leaders to freeze military operations and stop firing missiles on Saudi Arabia as the UN prepared for peace talks.
Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, chairman of the Higher Committee of the Revolutionary Revolution of the Huthi Insurgents and influential political personality, tweeted that he also hoped his group would announce "its willingness to suspend and halt all military operations ".
He called on "all Yemeni official (huthi) parties to give instructions to stop the launching of missiles and drones against aggressive countries (…) in order to deprive them of any reason to continue their aggression and their siege" .
The rebels must be ready to "freeze and put an end to all military operations on all fronts" to achieve "a just and honorable peace," he added.
His comments came as UN special envoy Martin Griffiths is scheduled to visit the Yemeni capital of Sanaa this week to finalize arrangements for peace talks in Sweden.
Huthi rebels control the capital Sanaa since its capture in late 2014.
Since then, they have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles on neighboring Saudi Arabia, which since 2015 has led a regional military coalition aimed at restoring power to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
– & # 39; Farm Insurance & # 39; –
Although Muhammad Ali al-Huthi is head of the Higher Committee of Iran-backed rebel revolution, he is not their ultimate decision maker – this power belongs to Supreme Leader Abdulmalek al-Huthi.
Griffiths, whose efforts to revive peace talks failed in September, said the Saudi-backed government, along with Huthi rebels, has demonstrated a "renewed commitment" to peace and security. 39, a political solution.
He added that both parties had "assured" that they would participate in the talks, although no date has yet been set.
The numerous attempts at negotiations between the government alliance and the Huthi have failed, especially in September, when the rebels refused to travel to Geneva for scheduled UN-organized talks.
But Griffiths offered Friday to travel with the huthi delegation to Sweden "if that's what is needed".
The rebels, whose delegates were stranded in Oman for three months after the failure of a series of talks in 2016, had blamed the world body for failing to guarantee the return of their delegation in Sanaa or to have evacuated the wounded fighters.
Mohammed Ali al-Huthi said his call for an end to the missile and drone attacks was "to support the efforts of the (United Nations) envoy and to prove our good intentions," adding that he responded "to our contact with the UN envoy and at his request, stop launching missiles and drones".
– Stop bloodshed & # 39; –
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 and protect Yemeni property against destruction".
Britain is scheduled to present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Monday to address the crisis in Yemen, its ambassador said on Friday.
British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, meanwhile, arrived in Iran on Monday for the first time. In particular, he planned talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on the country's role in Yemen. Iran supports Shiite rebels against Saudi Arabia.
Fighting in Yemen intensified earlier in the month when the coalition resumed the offensive to seize Hodeida, a Red Sea town whose port serves as a gateway to the Red Sea. almost all of the country's imports and humanitarian aid.
But pro-government forces announced a pause in their offensive last week, as international pressure for a ceasefire grew stronger as millions of Yemenis feared starvation.
An AFP correspondent in the city said on Monday that the city remains calm, although the rebel-led al-Masira news channel 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, said al-Masira.
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 has left the country on the verge of starvation and provoked what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
