World Bulletin / News Desk

The State Department confirmed Monday the release of an American journalist by Yemen Houthi rebels.

"U.S. citizen Casey Coombs has departed Yemen and has arrived safely in Muscat, Oman. He is in stable condition,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters. “The U.S. ambassador and a consular official met him at the airport upon his arrival and are providing all possible consular assistance."

According to a report by Reuters on Sunday, Houthi officials held talks with the U.S. in neighboring Oman, which raised speculation that those discussions were related to the release of Americans being held in Yemen.

While Harf confirmed that Assistant Secretary of State Anne Patterson traveled to Oman, she denied any U.S. meeting with Houthi representatives. "We are engaging with a variety of organizations in Yemen and with Yemenis about many issues," Harf said.

But Yemen's exiled government spokesman Rajeh Badin told Reuters, "We have been informed that there are meetings, at American request, and that a private American plane carried the Houthis to Muscat."

Riyadh says its campaign is in response to appeals by Yemen's embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for military intervention against the Houthis.