Saudi, UAE envoys bid to end standoff in Yemen's Aden

Saudi and Emirati envoys shuttled between Yemeni government forces and besieging southern separatists in Aden on Thursday (February 1st) in a bid to end a tense standoff, AFP reported.

The Sunday assault on the embattled government's headquarters by its former allies has opened up a new front in the devastating civil war that has created what the UN says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

On Wednesday, UAE-trained special forces deployed across Aden bringing a lull in the deadly clashes that had forced a halt to the distribution of desperately needed relief supplies for days.

"The security situation is stable and we are working with the coalition to consolidate it," a separatist official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Yemen Airways said it had resumed flights from Aden airport with a service to Cairo on Thursday.

Only the presidential palace in the north of the city remains under the control of government forces, military sources said.

The Saudi and Emirati envoys "met with all concerned parties, stressing the need to abide by the ceasefire ... and refocus efforts on the front lines against the Houthis", the UAE's official WAM news agency reported.

"The situation in Aden is stable and all parties have complied completely with the communique issued by the Arab coalition," Saudi Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saeed al-Mughaidi told reporters in Aden.

"The kingdom and the UAE have a common goal and the same vision and have no ambitions."

UAE Maj. Gen. Mohammed Matar al-Khyeli said: "Saudi Arabia and the UAE stand together with the Yemeni people and are leading reconciliation efforts between the Yemeni parties."

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