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Pakistan prime minister, army chief in Saudi Arabia to push for negotiations in Yemen conflict

Associated Press
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Saudi Arabian Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir speaks about Saudi military campaign in Yemen during a news conference at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (The Associated Press)

A Saudi man looks at an army tank being transported, in the city of Najran, Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen, Thursday, April 23, 2015. In a stunning development, Saudi Arabia had declared on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 that it was halting coalition airstrikes targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis — a four-week air campaign meant to halt the rebel power grab and help return to office embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a close U.S. ally who fled Yemen. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) (The Associated Press)

A Saudi man looks at an army tank being transported, in the city of Najran, Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen, Thursday, April 23, 2015. In a stunning development, Saudi Arabia had declared on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 that it was halting coalition airstrikes targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis — a four-week air campaign meant to halt the rebel power grab and help return to office embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a close U.S. ally who fled Yemen. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) (The Associated Press)

Pakistan's top leaders are in Saudi Arabia to push for negotiations in the Yemen conflict.

In Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesman Tasnim Aslam says Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif will meet King Salman on Thursday to discuss the crisis.

Pakistan welcomed the kingdom's decision to halt the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels.

But hours after Saudi Arabia declared an end to its nearly monthlong air campaign in Yemen, new airstrikes hit the Iran-backed rebels and their allies on Wednesday — suggesting the U.S.-backed offensive will be scaled back but not halted completely.

Both predominantly Sunni majority countries, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are close allies.

Pakistan supported the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes but declined to send troops, warplanes and warships to join the coalition.