The Houthi leader said a political settlement with Yemen's exiled government is still possible after what he called the "short-term" setback of the group's recent ousting from Aden.

The apparent policy shift came hours before the start of an intense battle for control of a strategic air base in the south of the country, which ended with Houthi troops surrendering the site and fleeing the scene on Monday afternoon.

Giving a televised speech on Sunday night, Abdelmalik al-Houthi had said his group would welcome a new attempt by a third party to broker a deal after the failure of UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva in June.

"A political settlement is still possible," Houthi said in a speech broadcast by the Houthi-owned al-Masira television channel.

"We would welcome any [mediation] effort by a neutral party - Arab or international," he said.

Houthi played down the withdrawal of the group and their allies from Aden in mid-July after four months of ferocious fighting.

"The advance made by the enemy in Aden will collapse," he said. "It is a short-term situation which we will overcome despite all the money of Saudi Arabia."

Yemen's oil-rich neighbour has led an air campaign against the Houthis since March, and also trained and equipped the ground forces that were instrumental in securing Aden.

It was the Houthis' entry into the southern port in March that forced President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his internationally recognised government into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh has justified its military intervention against the Houthis and their allies, saying that they posed a threat to the kingdom's security.

But Houthi said that after more than four months of devastating bombing, the threat was the other way around.

"With the crimes that you are committing, you pose a danger to Yemen," he said. "To guarantee your security, you have to be a good neighbour."

Houthis have fired mortars, rockets and even Scud missiles across the Yemen-Saudi border, but say that they only did so in response to the Saudi-led air war.

A Saudi civilian was killed on Sunday, but the majority of the 49 deaths so far have been soldiers.

Amid suggestions that new peace talks could be on the talks, pro-Hadi forces moved in on Monday to retake the strategic air base at al-Anad, some 60 kilometres inland from the second city of Aden.

Military sources told AFP that the offensive was led by around 1,500 foreign troops, mostly from the UAE, who landed at Aden on Sunday.

After hours of battles on Monday, the anti-Houthi forces seized control, amid reports that Houthi fighters fled the scene.

Reports of rebellion

The Houthi leader’s speech came amid reports of days-long clashes in military camps used by Houthi forces and those loyal to deposed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who have been fighting alongside each other.

Sources told Saudi-owned al-Sharq al-Awsat on Monday that the previous two days had seen armed clashes in several military camps in the capital Sanaa, reportedly amid growing rifts between Houthi fighters and forces loyal to Saleh.

According to the site’s sources, the disagreement follows a Houthi withdrawal from a number of the key fronts in the country.

Saleh’s forces allege that many Houthi fighters have returned to their homes, fleeing ongoing Saudi-led airstrikes and advances by pro-Hadi fighters on the ground.

Sources said the fighting, which led to unknown numbers of deaths and injuries, only ended when other units entered the camps to break up the clashes.