Houthi rebels favour new truce in Yemen

The Shia Houthi rebel militia expressed its willingness to agree to a new truce with the Riyadh-led coalition to end the blockade and airstrikes in Yemen, a possibility that Saudi Arabia equally favours, Efe news agency reported.

Speaking to the Yemeni news agency, Saba, the president of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, the highest Houthi power, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, stressed "the importance of dealing with greater positivism with humanitarian efforts that seek to end the blockade imposed by the coalition to Yemen".

Al-Houthi preemptively blamed the coalition countries for any "tragic consequences that a new aggression will have against the Yemeni people".

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday that implementing a truce depends on the commitment of Houthi rebels and their allies not to break it.

On May 12, a five-day humanitarian ceasefire went into force, although it failed to sufficiently assist the affected population or to end fighting. The truce ended on Sunday night, without being renewed.

Hours before its expiry, UN special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed asked parties involved in the conflict to renew it for five more days, but to no avail.

On the same day, Yemeni armed forces spokesman Sharaf Luqman, loyal to Houthis, said that he too favoured this option.

"We work positively with any initiative to stop the aggression... We welcome the call by the UN envoy," Luqman said.