Supporters of Yemen's Ex-President Saleh Call to End Military Intervention

A member of the General People’s Congress party headed by Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh says that supporters of Saleh are holding negotiations in Cairo on ending the Saudi-led external intervention in the Yemeni conflict.

CAIRO (Sputnik) – Supporters of Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh are holding negotiations in Cairo on ending the Saudi-led external intervention in the Yemeni conflict, a member of the General People's Congress party headed by Saleh told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

"There is a plan on reaching a settlement. Our delegation is in Cairo, it will then head to Riyadh [the capital of Saudi Arabia]. We demand an end to aggression against Yemen. After that it would be possible to hold negotiations, but so far they have not stopped the bombing and the war continues," Ahmed al-Sufi said.

According to Sufi, Saleh's party is against Saudi Arabia's involvement, military or political, in the situation in Yemen, where Houthi rebels have taken control of several cities, including the capital Sanaa. The General People's Congress considers Saudi Arabia, which has been leading international coalition airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen, an aggressor.

Saleh's aide also said that the General People's Congress does not want any political future for Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who was forced to resign by Houthis in January.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have been conducting airstrikes in Yemen for almost a month in a bid to weaken the Shiite Houthi rebels. On Tuesday, the coalition announced that its Decisive Storm military operation in Yemen would end at 00:00 local time on Wednesday (21:00 GMT on Tuesday) and would be replaced by the Restoring Hope campaign, which will focus on counter-terrorism efforts, humanitarian missions, and the revival of political dialogue in the crisis-hit country.

According to coalition spokesman, Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, the Decisive Storm operation was terminated at the request of Hadi. The operation started in late March following a request from Hadi for military support.

Some reports released late on Tuesday suggested that Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition were close to reaching a political agreement on ending the conflict in Yemen. However, a Houthi representative told RIA Novosti on Tuesday that the rebels were not conducting any negotiations with the coalition and had no plans of doing so.

Shiite Houthis forced Hadi and the Yemeni government to resign in January, when the rebels took control of Sanaa. Hadi later withdrew his resignation after escaping from house arrest and fleeing to the southern port city of Aden. At the end of March Hadi left Yemen for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing violence.

Forces loyal to Saleh have allied with Houthis against Hadi.