Saudi Arabia and its adversaries in Yemen's armed Houthi movement are holding secret talks to try to end a three-year-old war that has unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
A Saudi-led coalition is fighting to counter the influence of Riyadh's arch-foe Iran, an ally of the Houthis, who deny any help from Tehran and say they are fighting a revolution against corrupt politicians and Gulf powers in thrall to the West.
Two diplomats and two Yemeni officials told Reuters that Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam had been in direct communication with Saudi officials in Oman on a comprehensive solution to the conflict.
"There are consultations between the Houthis and the Saudis, without a representative of the internationally recognised government, and it is clear that there is a desire of the Houthis and the coalition to go toward a comprehensive agreement," one diplomat said.
A coalition official denied that Saudi Arabia had any negotiations with the Houthis, and reaffirmed support for UN peace efforts aimed at reaching a political solution.
Houthi officials did not provide an official comment.
Diplomats said the Saudi-Houthi dialogue had been going on for about two months and appeared aimed at providing a framework for a resolution to coincide with the arrival of a new U.N. envoy to Yemen, former British diplomat Martin Griffiths, who began his term on Sunday.
Hailing from Yemen's Zaydi Shi'ite sect, the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and drove the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into Saudi exile.
Fearing the advance was part of a regional power grab by Tehran, Riyadh and other mostly Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states armed and supported by the United States and Britain intervened to restore his rule.
The hoped-for accord would begin with a truce to pause fighting on nationwide battlefronts and culminate in the signing of a peace deal addressing the political interests of the warring parties, the sources added.
