Yemeni govt welcomes peace talks with Houthis

Aden (Yemen), Sep 16 (IANS) The Yemeni government has announced it welcomed all initiatives aimed at putting an end to the country's eight-year civil war, after a delegation of Houthi rebels arrived in Saudi Arabia for a new round of peace talks.

In a brief press statement on Friday, the Yemeni Foreign Ministry declared its full support for the ongoing peace efforts by Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Nations, and other members of the international community to broker a truce.

A Houthi delegation arrived on Thursday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, where they were scheduled to hold peace negotiations with relevant parties, Xinhua news agency reported.

Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday that it aimed to broker a "comprehensive and permanent ceasefire" and "sustainable political solution" acceptable to all parties in the conflict, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Oman, which borders both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, has also been actively engaged in talks to broker a truce between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

The talks are the latest attempt to end the Yemeni civil war that has killed thousands of people and spawned a humanitarian crisis.

The previous truce, which was brokered by the United Nations, lasted for six months and expired in October last year. However, fighting between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces has largely abated on several frontlines in the absence of a truce.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.