Houthis Disprove US Mediation in Oman Talks on Yemeni Reconciliation

SANAA (Sputnik) — Several Western and Arabic media outlets cited US foreign affairs department spokeswoman Marie Harf as saying on Tuesday that US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson had been meeting Yemeni warring factions in Oman to try and persuade them to come to Geneva for a peace conference.

“I can confirm that there are no Americans at the [negotiating] table. Saudis and other parties are attending, but not Americans,” Akhlak Shami, of the Houthi party’s political bureau, said. She added that the results of the talks will be announced on Thursday or Friday.

In late May, media reports revealed that informal negotiations on Yemeni peace were being held in the Oman capital of Muscat under the aegis of the monarchy. They are allegedly being attended by a group of high-ranking Houthi members and Iranians on one side, and US and Saudi delegates on the other. The internationally recognized Yemeni authorities later denied any involvement in the talks.

Almost 2,000 people have been killed and more than 8,000 injured in Yemen since the conflict escalated in March 2015, according to the most recent estimates by the World Health Organization. Last year, the Houthi group seized control of the capital Sanaa and forced the government out.