Yemen: Houthi delegation leaves to perform pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia

A delegation from the Houthi movement has left Sana’a to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, for the first time since the start of the war in Yemen, the Houthi-linked Saba news agency has reported.

“The delegation includes the Deputy Minister of Guidance and Hajj and Umrah Affairs, Allama Fouad Naji, and the Undersecretary of the Hajj and Umrah Sector at the Ministry of Guidance, Abdul Rahman Al-Nami,” said Saba, “as well as a number of scholars and social and tribal figures.”

This is the first time that leaders of the Houthis have left to perform Hajj since the start of the war in Yemen in 2014, according to Anadolu. There has been no immediate Saudi comment on the matter.

On Saturday evening, a commercial flight departed from Sana’a Airport heading for Saudi Arabia carrying 275 Yemenis wishing to perform Hajj. This was the first such flight since 2016. In 2022, flights left from Sana’a Airport only to go to the Jordanian capital, Amman, after commercial flights had been halted since August 2016.

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Yemen has been witnessing calm in the war between the forces loyal to the legitimate government, backed by an Arab coalition led by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthi forces, who have controlled governorates, including the capital, Sana’a, since September 2014.

Regional and international efforts have been intensifying to achieve a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Yemen. They included visits by Saudi and Omani delegations to Sana’a, in addition to multiple UN and international moves to advance the peace process.

Hopes for peace have been rising among Yemenis since Saudi Arabia and Iran signed an agreement mediated by China on 10 March to resume diplomatic relations, ending a seven-year estrangement between the two countries.