World Bulletin / News Desk 

Senior figures from Yemen's dominant Houthi group are holding talks with U.S. officials in Oman to advance efforts to resolve the conflict in Yemen, the Riyadh-based Yemeni government said on Sunday.

"We have been informed that there are meetings, at American request, and that a private American plane carried the Houthis to Muscat," Rajeh Badi, a spokesman for Yemen's government in exile told by telephone from the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The Yemeni government was not party to the talks, Badi said.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis and from U.S. officials.

If confirmed, the Oman meeting would be the first between the Houthis and the United States, Saudi Arabia's main foreign ally, since the start of the war.

The United States has said it was providing arms and intelligence to Saudi Arabia during its campaign in Yemen.

"We hope that these talks are being held in the context of international efforts to implement U.N. Security Council resolution 2216," Badi said.

The resolution, adopted in April, includes a call on all parties in Yemen, including the Houthis, to immediately and unconditionally end violence.