Houthis announce participation in national dialogue

The Saada-based Houthi group, Thursday announced it will participate in the comprehensive national dialogue conference on the basis of "healthy foundations that could end the state's stalemates". This announcement, came after the Dialogue Communication Committee met Thursday, with Houthi leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi in Saada. According to the Yemeni News Agency (SABA), the committee affirmed that appropriate grounds will be prepared for the success of the national dialogue. The Committee, held a meeting on Thursday morning presided by Abdelkarim al-Iriani, chairman of the committee, with the attendance of a UN representative, Abdelrahim Saber. The eight-member committee, is set to pave the way for the national reconciliation dialogue, which is a part of the UN-backed Gulf Initiative for power transfer in Yemen. Yemen's national dialogue is designed to resolve disputes between Yemeni political factions, under the supervision of  President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi, in accordance with the GCC deal that eased former President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power. UN Envoy to Yemen, Jamal Ben Omar, has said that he appreciated efforts exerted by Yemen’s president, to accelerate the country’s transition to democracy, pointing out that security forces were having some success against al-Qaeda. The Yemeni army, as been conducting an offensive against al-Qaeda in some towns of Abyan province. Although the army has achieved progress in fighting Al-Qaeda as some reports state, Al-Qaeda seeks to shift its war across to other Yemeni cities.