Muscat: Oman is going to make an all out effort to extricate Yemen from the current crisis so that peace returns to the country, according to local media reports.

Apart from making efforts to stop fighting, the aim is to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.

The plan in what the media has called the Omani Initiative includes the withdrawal of the armed factions of Al Houthi militia and ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces from all Yemeni cities, a return of all the military equipment seized from the Yemeni army’s stores, and restoration of the authority of the president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Moreover, it also stipulates speeding up the process of conducting parliamentary and presidential elections, the formation of a new consensus government that includes the entire spectrum of Yemeni parties.

Apart from these, plan is to bring the Al Houthi Ansar Allah group into the mainstream of Yemeni political life. It also includes holding international donors conference to help revive the Yemeni economy by implementing investment projects and initiate the process of Yemen’s entry into the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC).

Observers believe that Oman has launched its mediation effort as a response to the call given by the regional parties involved in the Yemeni war to take the country out of the crisis.

Oman has recently playes a role in the mediation of thorny regional issues, such as the Iranian nuclear file. It has also played an important role in maintain cordial relations among the Gulf neighbours and providing a channel of dialogue between the Arab countries and Iran.

The sultanate received 2,695 refugees from 48 nationalities via the land borders during in the past two weeks. States whose citizens were trapped in Yemen had requested that Oman to allow them to cross the its border. More than 90 Yemenis have been treated in different Omani hospitals.

Earlier, Oman’s foreign minister had defended his country’s stand to remain neutral in the ongoing conflict in Yemen, saying there were “reasons” for not participating in the Operation Storm of Resolve.

Foreign minister Yousuf Bin Alawi said that such crises could only be resolved through dialogue.

“There are common passionate feelings among Yemenis and Omanis that prevent Oman from participating in the conflict,” he said

Meanwhile, Yemeni media reported that an Omani plane would land on Sana’a International Airport on Wednesday to move Ali Adullah Saleh and his family outside Yemen as part of the settlement agreement.

Gulf News could not independently verify the claims.