Yemen's Houthi rebels call for dialogue to end war

Yemen's rebels have called for talks with the Saudi-led coalition to bring an end to the conflict in the war-torn country, Houthi-run Saba news agency reported.

Houthi Minister of Foreign Affairs Hisham Sharaf said a dialogue under UN auspices or with the participation of international partners may result in an end to the war.

"I advise the so-called Quartet and the coalition of countries of aggression (Saudi-led coalition) to accept to sit with Sanaa to end the war and aggression under the auspices of the UN or through international participation that includes Russia, China, Germany and any of the Gulf states that do not support the aggression," Sharaf said in a statement published by Saba.

The Houthis want dialogue to make arrangements for a ceasefire and the opening of Sanaa airport alongside other sea and land crossings, Sharaf said, adding that the Saudi-led coalition must lift the siege on the country and "the withdrawal of any foreign forces".

The dialogue must also include talks on the compensation of Yemen and its people for damages incurred during the war as well as discussing mechanisms towards "a political and peaceful solution" to the ongoing war in Yemen, he said.

Earlier this week, the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE issued a joint statement expressing concern over the grave humanitarian situation in Yemen and placing the blame on Houthis for their escalation of war and rejection of a ceasefire.

The Saudi-led coalition has been fighting alongside government forces since 2015, a year after the Iran-backed rebels overran the capital Sanaa.

Millions of people have been displaced by the fighting and more than 80 percent of the population require some form of assistance in what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

A UN report last month said 377,000 people will have died by the end of 2021 through direct and indirect impacts of the Yemen war.