SANAA (Xinhua) – An Omani delegation has departed Yemen’s capital after holding talks with the Sana’a-based government over efforts to resume a truce with the Saudi-backed rivals in the south, al-Masirah TV reported Monday.
During the four-day visit, the mediators discussed arrangements for “the next round of negotiations, including resuming truce and seeking solutions to the humanitarian issues,” said the television, without revealing when a new round of negotiation will be held.
The previous truce, which was brokered by the United Nations, lasted for six months and expired in October last year. However, fighting between government forces and the Saudi-backed rivals have largely abated on several frontlines in the absence of a truce.
Last week, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in his briefing to the UN Security Council that “the two sides continue to display a general willingness to seek solutions, but this still needs to be translated into concrete steps, in particular, a clear agreement on the way forward that includes restarting an inclusive Yemeni political process.”
Saudi Arabia and some of its allies began the invasion in March 2015 after the Yemeni popular resistance movement of Ansarullah took control of Yemen’s affairs in the absence of a functioning government.
The invaders, which have enjoyed full-on arms, logistical, and political support on the part of the United States, have been seeking to restore Yemen’s power to its former Riyadh- and Washington-friendly officials.
Although the coalition has failed to achieve any of its goals, the war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire country into the scene of what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.