Yemen’s Saleh Hails End To Saudi-led Strikes, Seeks New Dialogue

Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh welcomed Saudi Arabia’s declared end to air strikes against his Houthi militia allies and called for the renewal of political dialogue to guide the country out of turmoil.

“We hope that everybody will return to dialogue to solve and treat all the issues,” Saleh said in the message posted on his social media accounts on Wednesday.

The Saudi-led coalition on Tuesday announced the end to its nearly one-month-old bombing campaign in Yemen but a Saudi spokesman said forces would continue to target the Iran-allied Houthi movement as necessary.

Forces loyal to Saleh, who stepped down after months of protests in 2011 against his 33 years in office, had been fighting alongside the Houthis in a campaign to control Yemen against supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi that has killed hundreds of people.

“We hope this will mark the end of the option of force, violence and bloodshed and a start for reviewing accounts and correcting mistakes,” Saleh said in his message.

In the central Yemeni city of Taiz, war planes attacked a military brigade base on Wednesday morning after it was captured by Houthi rebels, residents and a local official told Reuters.