Houthis: negotiations with Saudi Arabia stalled

Mahdi al-Maşat, Chairman of the High Political Council of the Houthis in Yemen, gave information on the negotiations with Saudi Arabia in his speech on the occasion of the opening of the new academic year in Sana’a.

Noting that he is the head of the negotiating committee, Meşat claimed that negotiations with Saudi Arabia were halted due to disagreement over the source of civil servants’ salaries.

Meşat said that they demanded that civil servants’ salaries be paid from Yemen’s oil and gas revenues, but that “Saudi Arabia wants to transfer its oil and gas revenues to its central bank and pay civil servants’ salaries as ‘no’.”

Nearly 500,000 civil servants living in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen have seen their salaries cut for years due to the war in the country and the split of the central bank.

FOUR HUSSI MILITARY KILLED

On the other hand, it was claimed that 4 Houthi militiamen lost their lives in clashes between government forces and the Houthis in Yemen.

While the dead Houthi militia were reportedly buried in the capital Sana’a, no information was provided on the areas where the clashes took place.

Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have been in control of the capital Sana’a and some regions since September 2014. Saudi-led coalition forces have been supporting the Yemeni government against the Houthis since March 2015.

Saudi Arabia and Oman have been mediating between the Yemeni government and the Houthis for months to prepare a comprehensive agreement to end the nine-year crisis in Yemen.

A delegation from Oman and Saudi Arabia met with the Houthis in Sana’a in April to discuss a number of important issues, in particular the salaries of public employees.

The delegations intervened when the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, was working to resolve issues on which the Yemeni government and the Houthis could not agree, such as the wage issue. (AA)