CAIRO, Oct. 2 -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday that there is no military solution to the crisis in Yemen.
Shoukry's remarks came during his meeting in Cairo with his Yemeni counterpart Abdel Malik al-Mekhlafi, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement.
Abu Zeid said the foreign minister reiterated Egypt's support for the unity and stability of Yemen, calling for a comprehensive solution to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people.
For his part, the Yemeni minister appreciated Egypt's support for Yemen at international levels, pointing out to Egypt's stance during the recent meetings of Human Rights Council as Egypt was chairing the Arab group at the council.
The spokesman affirmed Egypt's support for the efforts exerted by Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, stressing the importance of the role of effective parties involved in the Yemeni crisis to use their influence to convince the Houthi rebels and former Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh to end the fighting in the Arab country.
Yemen's internationally-backed government, allied with the Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for more than two years been battling Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels over control of the country.
The coalition began a military air campaign in March 2017 to roll back Houthi gains and reinstate exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to the power.
UN statistics show more than 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war that also displaced around three million.