The visit shows progress in the Oman-brokered dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Saudi and Omani delegations have arrived in the Yemeni capital Sanaa for talks with Houthi officials as part of international efforts to find a settlement to Yemen’s nine-year conflict, Houthi-led media reported.
The visit signals progress in Oman-brokered talks between Riyadh and Sanaa, which parallel the United Nations’ peace efforts. Negotiations also gained momentum since arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore ties in a deal brokered by China.
The envoys, who landed late on Saturday, will meet with the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, to hold talks about ending hostilities and lifting a Saudi-led “blockade” of Yemeni ports, reported Houthi news agency SABA. .
Mohammed al-Bukaiti, a Houthi leader, said on Twitter that Saudi and Omani officials would “discuss ways to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace in the region”.
He said achieving an honorable peace between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia would be “a triumph for both sides”, and urged all parties to take steps to “maintain a peaceful atmosphere and prepare to turn the page of the past”.
Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy to Yemen, described the ongoing efforts, including the Saudi and Omani talks in Sanaa, as “the closest thing Yemen has made to real progress towards lasting peace” since the start of the war.
“This is a moment to seize and build on and a real opportunity to launch an inclusive political process under the auspices of the UN to end the conflict on a lasting basis,” he told the Associated Press news agency.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
Hashem Ahelbarra of Al Jazeera said in the Qatari capital Doha that the political landscape in Yemen is complex and that negotiations could take a long time.
“The United Nations has been trying for some time to bring all parties together to negotiate a political settlement,” he said.
He added that the parties understand that it will be extremely difficult to resolve all the differences between them.
Content of the conversations
Sources have told the Reuters news agency that talks between Saudi-Houthi aim at a full reopening of Houthi-controlled ports and Sanaa airport, payment of wages for civil servants, reconstruction and a timetable for foreign troops to leave the country.
The war in Yemen is seen as one of many proxy battles between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis, aligned with Iran, toppled a Saudi Arabian-backed government from Sanaa in late 2014 and are in de facto control of North Yemen.
They have been battling a Saudi-led military alliance since 2015 in a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and 80 percent of Yemeni’s population dependent on humanitarian aid.
A Houthi official said on Saturday the group had received 13 detainees released by Saudi Arabia in exchange for a previously released Saudi detainee, ahead of a wider prisoner exchange agreed by the warring sides.
In talks last month in Switzerland attended by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels agreed to release 887 prisoners. The 13 prisoners are part of that agreement, Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Mortada said.
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