SANAA: A Saudi delegation has left Yemen without finalising a truce but with a commitment from Iran-backed Huthi rebels to hold another round of talks, rebel and government sources told AFP on Friday.
The team, led by ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber, left the rebel-controlled capital Sanaa late on Thursday, four days after it arrived in the war-torn country seeking to “stabilise” a truce that expired last year.
In information that was also confirmed by a government source, a Huthi official said on condition of anonymity: “There is an initial agreement on a truce that should be announced later on if finalised”.
“There is an agreement to hold another round of talks to discuss points of difference further.”
The Huthis tookover Sanaa in September 2014, ousting the internationally recognised government and triggering a military intervention by Riyadh in the following March.
According to United Nations estimates, the conflict has claimed lives of hundreds of thousands of people, directly or indirectly, with two-thirds of the 30 million population dependent on aid.
Fighting decreased dramatically since a six-month, UN-brokered truce last year, even after the agreement expired in October.
Huthi political leader Mohamed Ali al-Huthi said the talks were held in a “positive atmosphere”, and another round was being planned as well.
On Saturday, before the Saudi visit, a Yemeni government source said a six-month truce the two sides had agreed in principle on to pave the way for three months of negotiations on establishing a two-year “transition”.
The talks began almost a month after Iran and Saudi Arabia, made a landmark announcement brokered by China, to resume ties, seven years after an acrimonious split.
The resource-rich Middle East powerhouses have been long been fierce rivals, competing for influence across the region with Yemen one of their key battlegrounds.
