Yemen: Houthis call three-day 'truce' after barrage of attacks on Saudi Arabia
Yemen's Houthis are suspending missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia for three days, in a peace initiative that the head of the group's political office said could be long term if the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen were to stop its air strikes and lift port restrictions.
Mahdi al-Mashat, in a televised speech on Saturday, also announced a three-day suspension of ground offensive operations in Yemen, including in the gas-producing region of Marib.
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"This is a sincere invitation... to rebuild trust and take all the sides from the arena of talks to the arena of acts," Mashat said.
The unilateral initiative came as the war between the Iran-aligned group and the Saudi-led coalition entered its eighth year, with the violence worsening in recent months. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, and left millions facing starvation and disease.
The Saudi-led coalition pounded the Houthi-controlled sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif with air strikes on Saturday, a day after the Houthis launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, including on an oil facility in Jeddah, causing a huge fire that sent up a big plume of black smoke a few miles from a practice session for Sunday's Saudi F1 Grand Prix.
Crude prices rose more than 1 percent to over $120 a barrel on Friday following the Jeddah attacks.
Ceasefire conditions
Lifting restrictions imposed by the coalition's warships on Yemen's Red Sea ports has been a major Houthi condition for a ceasefire. Saudi Arabia says there is no blockade on the ports and that it is only preventing arms smuggling.
Saturday's initiative will last if the coalition reopens the ports and stops its air strikes, Mashat said, adding that the group would extend the suspension of ground operations if Saudi Arabia announced a withdrawal of foreign troops from Yemen and stopped backing local militias.
The Saudi-led coalition offered a unilateral ceasefire last year. The Houthis rejected the offer, saying the humanitarian situation and reopening of the ports needed to be addressed before any peace talks.
Mashat said the group was ready to release all prisoners, including the brother of Yemen's president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
The United Nations is trying to secure a temporary truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts in April, and ahead of Riyadh's hosting of Yemeni parties for consultations later this month.
The conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but the Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
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