A vendor waits for customers at his shop in the old city of Sanaa, capital of Yemen, on Dec. 20, 2016. Yemen's dominant Houthi-led governing body Tuesday welcomed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's new peace call aimed to achieve a lasting cessation to 22-month civil war in Yemen, said state Saba news agency. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)
SANAA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's dominant Houthi-led governing body Tuesday welcomed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's new peace call aimed to achieve a lasting cessation to 22-month civil war in Yemen, said state Saba news agency.
The Houthi-led newly formed body, called "the National Salvation Government" also urged immediate lifting to all-out blockade imposed by Saudi-led military coalition that backed Houthis' foe of the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
"The National Salvation Government welcome the new peace call, including the roadmap proposed by UN envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed as a basis for positive final negotiations to end war, blockade and reach an honorable comprehensive political compromise," read a statement carried by Houthi-controlled Saba.
On Sunday, Kerry on this last visit to Saudi Kingdom expressed the home that a new ceasefire in the Yemen conflict could be agreed within two weeks.
Kerry said in a joint news conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir that "the U.S. will work with Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to achieve a new pause in the fighting."
The would-be pause would be the eighth ceasefire attempt since the war erupted early last year.
