Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Al Arabiya TV that the efforts to extend the truce in Yemen still stand.
The kingdom, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen and the Yemeni government are “keen on extending the truce,” the Saudi-owned TV reported on Wednesday quoting the minister.
On October 3, the United Nations envoy for Yemen scrambled to revive a six-month truce after a missed deadline raised fears of a return to war and prompted rebel threats against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Special envoy Hans Grundberg pledged “relentless efforts” to reinvigorate the truce, which lapsed in the last week of September after bringing a sharp reduction in clashes since it came into force in April.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been fighting a Saudi-led pro-government coalition since 2015 in a war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis according to the UN.
Grundberg’s plan to extend the truce — which was initially set to last two months and was renewed twice, to half a year — and to broaden it to new areas of the agreement was rejected by the Houthis. —Reuters
