Prince Khalid bin Salman extends saudi visit invitation to UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour

Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. PIC/X

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz invited the United Arab Emirates' Vice-President, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan - who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Presidential Court - to visit the Kingdom on Tuesday.

According to UAE's official news agency WAM, Sheikh Mansour had accepted and will travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a "brotherly visit".

The outreach comes as the kingdom has faced weeks of Houthi attacks on tankers, oil facilities, airports and the capital, and as the group has taken control of stretches of the Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.

Saudi reaching out to allies for help against Houthi threat

Riyadh has for weeks been seeking help from international allies against the Houthis.

A source from the office of the Yemeni government's leader previously told AFP that he had asked US President Donald Trump for American support against the Iran-backed group.

The New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia's crown prince had also called Trump to seek help against the Houthis' advances; Axios reported that Trump had rebuffed a similar request earlier this month.

On Friday, the chiefs of staff of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan discussed how to assist Riyadh as the Houthis continued attacks on the world's top crude exporter.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have long differed on foreign policy, including Yemen, Sudan and the Horn of Africa, where they have backed rival forces.

(With inputs from AFP)