Huthis will cease attacks on S Arabia if coalition stops raids

Sanaa: Yemen’s Huthi rebels said Tuesday that their attacks against Saudi Arabia and loyalist forces would cease if the Riyadh-led military coalition supporting the Yemeni government stopped its raids.

"I am directing a message to the new American administration and to the Saudis: stop your attacks and we will stop ours against you. It’s as simple as that," said Hisham Sharaf, foreign minister in the Huthi administration, which is not internationally recognised.

Sharaf made the comments during a news conference in Sanaa on recent armed drones headed for Saudi Arabia and fighting between the rebels and government forces in the Marib region.

The coalition said Sunday and Monday that it had intercepted two drones heading for the kingdom. Sharaf said rebels had acted against "extremist groups" in the Marib area that had come to bolster groups supporting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The region, east of the rebel-held capital, is the government’s last northern stronghold.