Yemen rebels say they’re halting attacks on Saudi Arabia
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said late Friday night that
they were halting drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, one week
after they claimed responsibility for a strike that crippled a key oil facility
in the kingdom.
The U.S. and the Saudis blamed the Sept. 14 attack
on Iran, which backs the Houthi rebels fighting a Saudi-led military coalition
in Yemen. Iran denies any responsibility.
Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthis’ supreme political
council, which runs rebel-held areas in Yemen, said the group is waiting for a
“positive response” from Saudi Arabia. His comments were carried by the
Houthi-run al-Masirah satellite TV.
The announcement could be a first step toward a
wider ceasefire in Yemen, but it remained unclear, and there was no immediate
response from the Saudi-led coalition.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed
concern about a coalition airstrike early Friday around Al Hali district, north
of the port city of Hodeida in Yemen. Guterres appealed for restraint and said
the warring parties had agreed to respect a December cease-fire deal in the
Hodeida area, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people
and sparked what the U.N. describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The recent attacks on Saudi Arabia knocked out more
than half of the country’s daily crude oil production.
