Ex-Yemeni President Saleh urges Houthis to withdraw

Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has appealed to his Houthi rebel allies to leave the territory they have captured in return for a halt to Saudi airstrikes.

According to BBC, Saleh called on various Yemeni factions and the Saudis to enter UN-based peace talks.

Yemen crisis began when the Houthi rebels forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee to Aden and then to Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

A campaign was led by Saudi Arabia last month to restore Hadi.