Muscat – The Office of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen said Monday that UN Secretary-General António Guterres discussed the overall situation in Yemen with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.

According to the statement, the talks addressed the plight of UN staff and employees of diplomatic missions and NGOs who remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthi group, designated as a terrorist organization.

The two leaders also exchanged views on several regional and international issues.

The meeting comes as the Houthis last Saturday began the trial of 13 detainees before the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a, accusing them of espionage for the United States and Israel since the 1980s a process widely criticized for lacking judicial integrity.