The Wall Street Journal: Washington is preparing for talks with the Houthis with Saudi participation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is preparing to start direct talks with the Houthis in an effort to end the four-year-old war in Yemen, the Wall Street Journal quoted informed sources as saying.

The United States will urge Saudi Arabia to take part in secret talks with Houthi leaders in Oman in an effort to reach a ceasefire, the newspaper said.

She explained that the talks to be held in Oman reflect the lack of military options applicable to the coalition in Yemen.

Veteran diplomat Christopher Henzel, who was appointed ambassador to Yemen in April, will lead the talks, the sources told the newspaper.

She pointed out that US officials will meet this week a number of Saudi officials in Washington - including Prince Khaled bin Salman, Deputy Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia - in an effort to convince them the importance of adopting the approach of diplomacy in Yemen.

The newspaper pointed out that Prince Khalid bin Salman will meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday.

Since March 2015, a Saudi-led Arab military alliance has been supporting government forces against the Houthis, and fighting has killed 70,000 people since the beginning of 2016, according to UN estimates in mid-June.

In recent days, the Houthis have announced that they have targeted several locations in Saudi Arabia by drones, such as Abha airport (in the south of the country), Jizan and border areas, most recently the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushayt and in Riyadh. But the coalition declares that these aircraft will be confronted and destroyed.