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Saudi officials travel to Yemen to try and end crushing civil war

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – As part of an effort to end the devastating civil war in Yemen, a delegation of Saudi Arabian officials on Sunday traveled to the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa to try and negotiate a peace deal with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have taken over the city, AFP reports.

The Yemeni war between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement has raged since 2014, resulting in the deaths of nearly half a million people from both the violence and the resultant famine and collapse of health care infrastructure.

While there has been no official statement from the Saudis, Houthi media showed their leader Mahdi al-Mashat shaking hands and meeting with Saudi Kingdom’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber, AFP reports. Two Yemeni officials told AFP on condition of anonymity that Saudi officials had arrived in Sanaa “to discuss moving forward to create peace in Yemen.”

The meeting has been viewed by analysts as a result of recent warming relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with Saudi and Iranian diplomats having met in China on Thursday to work on bringing “security and stability” to the Middle East, AFP noted.

According to one of the officials, the Saudis and Houthis had agreed in principle on a six-month ceasefire that would lead to three months of talks on establishing a two-year “transition” for Yemen. “The deal is expected to fulfill key Houthi goals, including paying salaries of civil servants in Houthi-controlled areas and lifting operational restrictions on Houthi-controlled airports and ports.” AFP said in its report.