Saudi King, Kerry Meet in Jeddah ahead of Yemen Talks

– Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz met on Thursday in Jeddah with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, according to Anadolu Agency.

Talks tackled bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region, the SPA News Agency reported.

Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks, which are expected to focus on the situation in war-torn Yemen.

The top U.S. diplomat is scheduled to meet later Thursday with his Gulf counterparts, UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and Russian Middle East envoy Mikhail Bogdanov for talks on how to resolve the Yemeni and Syrian conflicts.

Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since late 2014 when Houthi rebels overran capital Sanaa, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

In March last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, pro-Hadi forces have since managed to reclaim large swathes of the country’s south — including provisional capital Aden — but have failed to retake Sanaa and other strategic areas.

UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels have failed to make any breakthrough toward resolving the conflict.