Yemen's Saleh ready to turn new page if Saudi-led attacks end

Yemen's former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh said Saturday he was open to talks with the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthis, as his alliance with the rebels appeared to be crumbling.

"I call on our brothers in neighbouring countries ... to stop their aggression and lift the blockade ... and we will turn the page," the former president said in a televised speech.

"We vow to our brothers and neighbours that, after a ceasefire is in place and the blockade is lifted ... we will hold dialogue directly through the legitimate authority represented by our parliament."

TRT World's Nafisa Latic reports.

The Saudi-led coalition, which has fought Saleh and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since 2015, this month imposed a total blockade on the impoverished country after a rebel missile was shot down near Riyadh.

The coalition responded positively to Saleh's statement. The coalition said it was confident that leaders of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's General People's Congress Party (GPC) would return to the Arab fold.

The comments, carried by the Saudi-owned Al-Hadath news channel, came after Saleh said he was ready to turn a new page with the coalition if it stopped what he described as its aggression on Yemen and lifted restrictions on transportation.

The coalition accuses Saleh of having betrayed his Arab neighbours by joining the Houthi-led forces they say are aligned with non-Arab Iran.

The capital has been shaken by escalating violence this week between supporters of Saleh and the Houthis, with dozens of fighters killed and injured and residents now fearing a new front in an already devastating war.