The Ansar Allah movement seeks an end to the war, not just an armistice, and it does not seek revenge through assuming authority in Yemen, Yemeni Political Council member Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi said Saturday in light of the ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia.

Ansar Allah's demands from Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-led coalition are not unfamiliar, "as they will include the opening of the Yemeni airspace, the lifting of the blockade, and the resumption of trade," Al-Houthi told CNN during an interview.

Read next: Saudi officials meet with Al Houthi in Sanaa to discuss peace process

He also revealed that the UN and other parties being excluded from the talks came as part of the parties departing from the complexities that such levels of talks cause, "especially that Saudi Arabia knows what it wants from the Yemeni people and why it is fighting it, while the others are mere allies or mercenaries who do not have the power to make a decision."

Asked about how he sees things progressing and the transitional period if an agreement is reached, he said: "We have not yet talked about these political issues, but we have proposed several key points of the comprehensive agreement, and we firstly insist that the sanctions imposed on the Yemeni people be removed, including the lifting of the blockade, the provision of salaries, and other humanitarian aspects."

Al-Houthi addressed the guarantees about all foreign forces other than Saudi Arabia withdrawing from Yemen, highlighting that Riyadh was leading the alliance and had called all other parties to join the war and that it was to its benefit to end the war because it sees the whole debacle from the perspective of economic development and because the continuation of the war would harm its interests.

The Yemeni leader further highlighted that the Ansar Allah movement saw that the Yemeni people were free to make whichever decision they saw fit, and the movement can share the rule and the wealth of Yemen with the Yemeni people. "We do not seek to tyrannize, but the other parties are refusing to share power."

Related News

Yemen strikes al-Lydd Airport with hypersonic missile over Gaza

Yemen Navy reveals fate of targeted Eternity C ship crew

Al-Houthi also underlined that Sanaa's ongoing talks with Saudi Arabia include the humanitarian issues in Yemen, calling for the concerned parties to take tangible steps to help the Yemeni people.

Representatives of the Yemeni Ansar Allah and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government kicked off in March talks in Geneva for an exchange of prisoners, with the UN urging both sides to engage in "serious" discussions.

The new round of closed-door negotiations was overseen by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Within the framework of this deal, the sides agreed "to release all prisoners, detainees, missing persons, arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared persons, and those under house arrest," held in connection with the war, "without any exceptions or conditions."

Moreover, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Saeed Al Jaber, said Monday during a visit to Sanaa that his trip was aimed at consolidating the armistice, establishing a ceasefire, and backing the prisoner swap deal, as well as discussing the means of dialogue between the various Yemeni political components to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution in Yemen.

The Ambassador announced his visit on Twitter, saying the trip would be a continuation of Riyadh's efforts to bring an end to the Yemeni crisis and in support of the initiative that Saudi put forward in 2021.

Moreover, a massive prisoner exchange between Yemen and Saudi Arabia began on Friday, with the first plane leaving Sanaa for Aden, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

ICRC media advisor Jessica Moussan told AFP that the first plane had officially left Sanaa in a 3-day process that will release roughly 900 prisoners, most of whom were fighting with the Sanaa government forces.