Sana’a, Mar. 27, (dpa/GNA) - Yemen’s Houthi rebels are suspending attacks on Saudi Arabia, offering a three-day unilateral ceasefire, a senior rebel official said on Saturday.
The announcement comes one day after missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, which led to a fire breaking out at an oil facility near the Formula One circuit in Jeddah.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday it responded with strikes on “Houthi strongholds” in the Yemeni capital Sana’a and the port city of Hodeidah.
Mahdi al-Mashat, the head of the rebels’ ruling Higher Political Council, said the group was suspending all “land, sea and air” attacks on Saudi Arabia.
This unilateral truce would become permanent if Riyadh withdraws coalition forces from Yemen and “halts support for local militias,” he added.
Al-Mashat added that the group is ready for a prisoner exchange deal, and offered to release the brother of President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi as well as detained pro-government troops.
Saudi Arabia formed a military coalition in March 2015 to back the Yemeni government against the Houthis, who months earlier had seized the Yemeni capital Sana’a and other areas in the impoverished country.
Rounds of peace talks as well as unilateral truce announcements by both the coalition and the rebels have failed to resolve the seven-year conflict.
Al-Mashat’s statements come ahead of the inter-Yemeni “consultations” scheduled to take place in Riyadh, hosted by the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The Houthis dismissed the GCC’s invitation, saying they would welcome dialogue is held in a country that is not part of the coalition.
GNA