SANAA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi top leader on Wednesday welcomed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for a cease-fire, and ordered release of all Baha'i community's detainees.

"We welcome the UN secretary-general's call for cease-fire...we reaffirmed our readiness to deal with all peace initiatives to achieve a comprehensive political solution," Mahdi al-Mashat, president of Houthi's Supreme Political Council, said in a televised speech to mark the fifth year of his group's control of the capital Sanaa.

"We are ready to cooperate to move from war stage to peace," he said on the Houthi-run al-Masirah television.

Baha'i community is a minority group of several thousands people in Yemen.

Earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Guterres called on the Yemeni rival parties to "immediately cease hostilities, focus on reaching a negotiated political settlement and do everything possible to counter a potential outbreak of COVID-19."

The call followed Guterres' appeal on Monday for an immediate global cease-fire in face of COVID-19, said Stephane Dujarric, the UN spokesman, in a statement.

"More than five years of conflict have devastated the lives of tens of millions of Yemenis. The current fighting in al-Jawf and Marib threatens to further deepen human suffering," said the statement.

Guterres called on the Yemeni parties to work with his special envoy Martin Griffiths to "achieve a nationwide de-escalation."

Al-Mashat, also in his speech, granted a pardon to Baha'i prominent leader Hamed bin Haydara and ordered the release of all other Baha'i community's members.

Around 24 Baha'is have been detained by Houthi group over the past four years, including Hamed bin Haydara, who was sentenced in 2018 to execution.

The war in Yemen erupted in late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 26, 2015 to support Hadi's government.

The fighting between the Yemeni government forces and Houthi militias have declined this week for the first time since the conflict erupted five years ago, according to online information released by both warring parties.

The fighting earlier this month in al-Jawf and Marib has killed dozens of fighters from both sides and displaced hundreds of families.

Despite the fact that no case of COVID-19 has been registered yet in Yemen, the rival parties have both imposed health precautionary measures over the past two weeks.

Already plagued by cholera, malnutrition and dengue fever, Yemen lacks the ability to curb deadly epidemics. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)