Global Courant
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SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A commercial flight carrying more than 270 Yemeni Muslim pilgrims departed Saturday from the rebel-held capital of Sanaa for Saudi Arabia, an official said, the first such flight in about seven years.
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The flight of Yemen’s flag carrier Yemenia – also known as Yemen Airways – departed Sanaa International Airport at 8 p.m. local time, bound for the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, said Khalid al-Shayyef, head of the Yemeni airport.
He told The Associated Press that the flight was the first of five that would take this year’s Muslim pilgrims from Sanaa to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca for any Muslim who can afford it. afford and is physically able to make it. .
Along with Sunday’s flight, two more are scheduled for Monday and Wednesday, while Houthi and Saudi officials were planning two additional flights, he said.
Yemen’s capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since they descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognized government. The Houthi takeover prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 to try to restore the government. The coalition closed down Sanaa airport in August 2016, as part of an air and naval blockade of Houthi-held areas in Yemen.
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Millions of Muslims from around the world will gather in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca next week to begin multi-day rituals at holy sites in and around the city.
The flights between Sanaa and Saudi Arabia are another sign of easing tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which is seeking to end its involvement in the country’s conflict.
Saudi and Houthi officials have met repeatedly for talks aimed at a negotiated solution to the conflict. Such talks gained momentum earlier this year when Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Houthis’ main foreign lender, reached an agreement to restore diplomatic ties after years of frayed relations.
In recent years, the conflict in Yemen has turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It has devastated Yemen, already the poorest Arab country, and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. More than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, have been killed.
