Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—A crucial meeting between Yemen’s rival political forces to end the ongoing crisis in the Arabian Peninsula state is set to take place in Geneva within the next two weeks, informed Yemeni political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The talks, which will be the first of their kind between Yemen’s legitimate government—headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi—and representatives of the Shi’ite Houthi militia and ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, will be mediated by the UN.

The political sources, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, said that the meeting would address a number of issues including the withdrawal of rebel forces from Yemen’s cities, a ceasefire and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

President Hadi and Vice-President Khaled Bahah have already held talks with UN Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to discuss the latest developments in the country, amid renewed efforts by the envoy to hold negotiations between the warring parties.

Neighboring Oman is also mediating talks between the Shi’ite Houthi movement and American officials in its capital Muscat. The talks have already led to Houthi forces freeing at least one of “several” US nationals in captivity in Yemen, according to the US state department.

In comments on Monday, US state department spokesperson Marie Harf confirmed the name of the freed American as Casey Coombs, a freelance journalist. She said he is in a “stable condition.”

“We are grateful to the government of Oman and personally to Sultan Qaboos for assisting with the safe passage of a US citizen to Oman,” Harf said.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League Mohamed Al-Haisami also praised the role that neighboring Sultanate of Oman is playing in seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis.

Yemen’s people are placing their highest hopes for a political solution to the ongoing crisis in their country on the Sultanate of Oman’s efforts, Haisami said.

“Our Omani brothers have stood with Yemen in its time of trouble and that is something that the Yemeni people will never forget,” he added.

However reports of violence continued to emerge despite the renewed push for dialogue, with local media reporting that 18 Houthi fighters had been killed in an ambush in Yemen’s central province of Ibb on Tuesday by armed tribesmen.

Saudi Arabia continued to carry out airstrikes on Houthi rebel positions, hitting a number of Houthi targets on Monday in the northern Saada province—a traditional Houthi stronghold.

The strikes were carried out in response to the rebels firing rockets into the Kingdom a day earlier.