[#Yemen Houthi armed forces hold negotiations with the Saudi delegation#, focusing on fully reopening ports and airports, extending the ceasefire agreement] The Saudi delegation held a new round of negotiations with the Houthi armed leaders on extending the ceasefire agreement in Yemen's capital Sana'a on the 9th, hoping to advance the Yemeni peace process and end the 9-year civil war.
The head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mehdi al-Musaud, in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, under his control, greeted the Saudi delegation led by the Saudi ambassador to Yemen and the Oman delegation as mediator. The Houthis and Saudi Arabia both thanked Oman for its efforts to promote peace, and Mehdi al-Moshat reiterated his position on the pursuit of peace and the Yemeni people's desire for independence and freedom. Before the meeting, senior Houthi armed forces said that they would discuss with representatives of Saudi Arabia and Oman ways to achieve comprehensive and lasting peace in the region, and urged all parties to take steps to maintain a peaceful atmosphere and prepare to turn a new page.
Reuters quoted sources as saying that the negotiations focused on the full reopening of ports controlled by the Houthis and Sana'a airport, the payment of salaries to government personnel in the Houthis-controlled areas, the deployment of reconstruction work, and the establishment of a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Yemen. The Houthis, on the other hand, will allow oil exports from areas controlled by government forces.
Yemen's civil war is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and as relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran thaw, Yemen also ushers in the dawn of peace. Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, brokered by the United Nations, reached a preliminary agreement last month to extend a ceasefire that expired last October and exchange more than 800 prisoners. The Oman-brokered negotiations were balanced with the United Nations-led negotiations. UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Glendberg, said that this negotiation is the closest Yemen has come to substantive progress towards lasting peace, and the opportunity must be seized to launch an internal political process. (Phoenix Satellite TV Ye Yaowen, Li Huiyi comprehensive report)
