Yemen’s Houthi rebel group announced Friday that they had halted attacks on Saudi Arabia and called on Riyadh to make a similar move.
“We announce the cessation of targeting the territory of Saudi Arabia with unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles, and we expect the same from Saudi Arabia,” Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council, said in a televised speech on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his group’s control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
Al-Mashat stressed that his group reserves the right to respond if Saudi Arabia fails to respond to its initiative to stop attacks.
He warned that the Saudi-led coalition forces would incur “the greatest damage” from the continuation of the war.
Al-Mashat called on the Saudi-led coalition to lift the ban on Sanaa International Airport and stop intercepting ships bound for the Red Sea.
He also called on the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and all parties to engage in serious and genuine negotiations leading to comprehensive national reconciliation.
He said his group had fulfilled nearly 90% of its obligations under an agreement reached late last year in Sweden and accused the Yemeni government of not fulfilling its obligations.
