UK's Hunt holds Saudi talks on Yemen conflict

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he held talks Saturday with his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh that focused on human rights issues, including journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder and the jailing of women activists in the kingdom.

Hunt also discussed a fragile truce in the flashpoint Yemeni city of Hodeida with the Saudi foreign minister of state Adel al-Jubeir and Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who is based in Riyadh.

Hunt's visit came after he failed last month to convince Germany to end its ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, which he said was hurting Europe's defence industry and diminishing its influence in efforts to end the Yemen conflict.

"Important discussion with @AdelAljubeir about human rights reforms and current issues including Khashoggi, women activists," Hunt said on Twitter, without offering any details.

The murder of Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate last October sparked global uproar and tarnished the reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The killing has weakened the kingdom's diplomatic position and hurt its strategic relations with Western allies, even though it strongly denies that the crown prince was involved.