Sana’a: Yemen’s powerful ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key ally of the country’s dominant Al Houthi movement, on Friday welcomed a UN peace proposal to end the country’s 19-month war as a “good basis for negotiations”.
Saleh made his comments as UN envoy Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad held meetings in the capital Sana’a with Al Houthi rebels and negotiators representing forces loyal to him.
A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting since March 2015 against Al Houthi rebels and Saleh loyalists, who hold much of the north of Yemen including Sana’a, to try to restore the internationally recognised President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
Saleh issued his comments on his official Twitter account.
Last week, Hadi rejected the UN plan, which would sideline him and set up a new government.
Still, a senior diplomat at the United Nations told Reuters that Saudi Arabia appeared broadly to accept the initiative and had encouraged Hadi to deal with it.
The ongoing conflict in Yemen has killed at least 10,000 people and unleashed one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
