Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are set to embark on a historic journey to Riyadh, their first since the 2015 conflict, which raises hopes for a breakthrough in a protracted conflict that has caused immense suffering and loss of life, including severe famine.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are to fly to Riyadh for the first publicly announced visit since a Saudi-led military coalition opened hostilities in 2015, government and diplomatic sources said on Thursday.
The Houthis’ visit, expected in the coming days, will raise hopes of a breakthrough in the quagmire conflict that has left hundreds of thousands dead through direct and indirect causes such as famine.
It comes five months after Saudi officials held talks in Sanaa, and as a UN-brokered ceasefire continues to largely hold despite officially lapsing in October.
Yemen was plunged into war when the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa in September 2014, prompting the Saudi-led intervention the following March.
The ensuing fighting has forced millions from their homes, causing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in a country already pummeled by decades of conflict and upheaval.
The six-month ceasefire that expired last October is still mostly holding but moves towards peace have been slow since the Saudi delegation visited Sanaa in April.
A delegation from Oman, which plays the role of mediator, arrived in Sanaa on Thursday, Yemeni government officials said, days after Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Oman’s sultan en route from the G20 summit in India.
The head of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies think-tank, Majed al-Madhaji, told AFP that the Houthi visit “is like moving the relationship between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia from the back rooms to the living room.”
By organizing talks in Riyadh, both sides are “legitimizing this relationship and giving it an additional impetus.”
“On the political level, it is an advanced step to end Saudi Arabia’s direct role in Yemen and for the Houthis to acknowledge its role as a mediator,” in addition to being one of the parties to the conflict.
Moves towards peace in Yemen have accelerated since heavyweight regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran announced a surprise rapprochement in March, seven years after they broke off ties.
Katrine Dige Houmøller, with AFP
