Ceasefire? Yemen rebels ready to talk without Saudi-backed leader

Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement is ready to resume talks to resolve the country’s crisis if the Saudi-led military coalition stops airstrikes, though it won’t accept the kingdom-backed deposed president returning to power, a senior official said. Bloomberg reports Ali al-Kahoum, a member of the political department of the Shiite Muslim group, said talks should be sponsored by a party that’s not involved in the military campaign in Yemen. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran have offered to mediate talks between Yemen’s warring factions. More than 500 people have been killed in the past two weeks, according to the U.N.

We have always agreed to the principle of dialogue.

Ali al-Kahoum, militia spokesman

At the same time, aid workers are set to take vital medical supplies into Yemen after the Saudi-led military coalition approved the move, the International Red Cross said. Russia and the agency have called for an urgent pause in airstrikes to allow in aid, replenish struggling hospitals and evacuate foreigners. However, the agency was still awaiting approval for a Red Cross surgical team that it plans to bring by boat into the southern city of Aden, where fighting remains intense.

Politics houthi