Yemen's government said Thursday (November 1st) it was ready to re-start peace talks with the Iran-backed Houthis (Ansarallah), as international pressure to end the years-long conflict intensifies, AFP reported.
The UN said a day earlier it aimed to relaunch the talks within a month, after a previous attempt collapsed in September when the Houthis refused to attend.
"The Republic of Yemen welcomes all efforts to restore peace," a government statement said.
"The government of Yemen is ready to immediately launch talks on the process of confidence-building, primarily the release of all detainees and prisoners, as well as those who have been abducted or subject to enforced disappearance," it said.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week called for an end to the Yemen war, including airstrikes.
In September, the Houthis refused to travel to Geneva for planned peace talks, accusing the UN of failing to guarantee their delegation's return to the Yemeni capital Sanaa and to secure the evacuation of wounded opposition fighters to Oman.
Previous talks broke down in 2016, when 108 days of negotiations in Kuwait between the government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Houthis failed to yield a deal.
