Yemeni rebels to halt rocket fire at Saudis

SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Shiite rebels said Monday that they will halt rocket fire into Saudi Arabia for the sake of peace efforts, answering a key Saudi demand in the latest push to stop the civil war in the Arab world’s poorest country.

But the rebels also said they had fired a ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia overnight in response to an attempted border incursion and a Saudi airstrike, and that they reserved the right to respond to attacks.

At the same time, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government confirmed it will participate in United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Sweden, the country’s official news agency reported Monday.

For the past three years, a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition has been waging war against the Iran-aligned rebels, known as Houthis, to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The rebels say they have long been excluded from that government and aim to rectify historic grievances.

Rebel leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi announced in a statement that the rebels had ordered the cessation of rocket and drone attacks on the Saudis and forces loyal to the United Arab Emirates, a leading coalition member, at the request of U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths.

“We are ready to freeze and stop military operations on all fronts in order to achieve peace,” Mr. alHouthi said. He mentioned the rockets specifically as part of a longer statement in which he blamed the United States for being the main driver behind “the aggression” against Yemen.

The Houthis swept down from northern Yemen in 2014 and captured the capital, Sanaa, with the help of forces loyal to longtime strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been forced from power by an Arab Spring-inspired popular uprising. Mr. Saleh was killed in internal fighting between the Houthis and their allies last year.

The government fled Sanaa in early 2015, and Saudi Arabia, citing fears that its nemesis Iran was trying to make inroads on the Arabian Peninsula, began launching airstrikes against the rebels in March of that year.

Hani Mohammed/Associated Press Houthi Shiite fighters guard a street leading to the residence of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on Dec. 4, 2017. Shiite rebels say they will stop firing rockets into Saudi Arabia in an effort to stop civil war in Yemen.