The head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, on Sunday said the group was not against extending a UN-brokered truce, despite describing it as “not encouraging enough”.
The two-month nationwide truce between a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthi group, the first since 2016, went into effect on 2 April and has largely held.
The United Nations is now seeking an extension to pave the way for inclusive political negotiations to end a seven-year war that has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.
“We affirm that we are not against the extension of the truce, but what is not possible is accepting any truce in which the suffering of our people continues,” Mashat said in a speech carried by Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by the Houthi movement.