Riyadh: Two Saudi religious teachers have arrived home after their release from more than nine months’ detention by Al Houthi militiaman in Yemen, official media reported on Friday.

Abdul Rahman Al Sharari and Salem Al Gamdi landed in Riyadh on Thursday evening from Djibouti, the Saudi Press Agency said.

They were accompanied by the kingdom’s ambassador to Yemen and UN envoy Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad who on Thursday finished a five-day mission to the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sana’a, SPA said.

The teachers were on their way to work in the Comoros, on a flight which transited Sana’a, when air service was suspended at the start of a Saudi-led bombing campaign against the Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels on March 26, SPA said.

The teachers were staying at the United Nations mission in a local hotel, but Al Houthis arrived and detained them until they were freed and handed over to Ould Shaikh Ahmad on Thursday, SPA added.

In Sana’a, Ould Shaikh Ahmad met Al Houthi officials and others from the General People’s Congress, the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who is allied with Al Houthis.

The UN envoy said the rebels had taken positive steps during his visit, including the release of the Minister of Technological Education, Abdul Razzak Al Ashwal, a prominent member of the Al Islah Islamist party.

Four other detainees, including activists and journalists, were also freed, he said.

He added that he received assurances about the condition of Defence Minister General Mahmoud Sobeihi as well as Nasser Mansour Hadi, a brother of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and another general, Faisal Rajab.

Al Houthis captured them just before the coalition’s intervention.

The liberation of the three men, and the lifting of a rebel siege on the city of Taez, are among the demands of Hadi’s government before a new round of peace talks can occur.

Ould Shaikh Ahmad had hoped to reach an agreement in Sana’a for a new round but he left Sana’a saying no date had been set.

The Saudi-led coalition is fighting in support of anti-rebel forces and Hadi’s internationally backed government, in a war that has killed more than 5,800 people.

The UN says an estimated 80 per cent of the population requires humanitarian aid.