World Bulletin / News Desk

Senior figures from Yemen's Houthi in talks with U.S. officials in Oman to advance efforts to resolve the conflict in Yemen.

"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 Reuters by telephone from the Saudi capital Riyadh.

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

U.N. Special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has renewed efforts to set a new date for Yemeni political factions to meet in Geneva for peace talk.

Though a member of the six-state Gulf Cooperation Council which also includes Saudi Arabia, Oman has not participated Saudi-led air strikes.

Yemeni politicians who met Ould Cheikh Ahmed in Sanaa on Saturday said he had informed them that "indirect talks" were underway in Muscat between the Houthi delegation and U.S. officials through Omani mediation.