EU welcomes Houthi statement on stopping hostile acts

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - The EU welcomed the statement by the Houthi rebels in Yemen over stopping hostile military acts against Saudi Arabia.

There is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen, and therefore initiatives aiming at de-escalation are urgently needed, EU's Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said in a statement late Sunday.

"The announcement made by Ansar Allah [Houthis] on 20 September, on the cessation of hostile military acts against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an important step," she said.

"Any reciprocal step in this regard could provide the UN Special Envoy with an opportunity to engage effectively with all relevant stake holders with a view to relaunching the political process," Kocijancic said.

"The EU will continue to support the UN Special Envoy's work with all the tools at our disposal".

Yemen's Houthi rebel group announced Friday that they had halted attacks on Saudi Arabia and called on Riyadh to make a similar move.

However, the group also said that it reserves the right to respond if Saudi Arabia fails to respond to its initiative to stop attacks.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.