Houthis head to Yemen peace talks in Sweden

A Houthi delegation left for Sweden on Tuesday for UN-sponsored Yemen peace talks, the first since 2016. The nearly four-year-old conflict, which has killed thousands and left millions facing starvation, pits the Houthi group against Yemeni forces backed by an Arab coalition loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A Kuwaiti passenger jet carrying the Houthi team accompanied by UN special envoy Martin Griffiths left the Houthi-held capital Sanaa for Sweden, Reuters reports. Hadi’s government is expected to follow the group, whose attendance was secured after the evacuation of 50 wounded Houthis for treatment in Oman on Monday. Previous talks in September collapsed when the Houthis failed to show up.