SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s Shi’ite Houthi rebels on Monday confirmed carrying out a prisoner exchange with Saudi Arabia and said they were open to negotiating a peace deal with the Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting them for a year.
‘‘We will not turn our backs on any understandings or initiatives that could lead to the halt of aggression and lifting the suffering from the Yemeni people,’’ Saleh al-Sammad, head of the Houthis’ political wing, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
He said the exchange of a captive Saudi army officer for seven fighters this month was part of an ‘‘preliminary’’ stage of negotiations, which would be followed by ‘‘gradual steps’’ if Riyadh is willing to pursue a deal to halt its operations.
Earlier Monday, an Emirati fighter jet suffered a ‘‘technical malfunction’’ and crashed near Aden, killing the plane’s two pilots, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said. The seven-emirate nation has dispatched its fighter jets in strikes targeting Scud missile sites in Yemen, as well as Houthi camps.
The war pits the Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital, Sana, against an internationally-recognized government.