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Yemen asks rebels to implement truce to end war
Yemen has handed over to Houthi rebels a timetable to implement the government's ceasefire terms, in an effort to end the conflict in the north of the country, a Yemeni presidential adviser said on Saturday."The security committee has drawn up a timetable ... and it has been handed over to (rebel leader Abdul-Malik) al-Houthi through mediators," Abdul-Karim al-Iryani told reporters. "If he signs it, the war will stop," he said, adding that committees including rebel representatives would be set up to oversee the implementation of the six truce terms. The rebels have said they would accept conditions set by Sanaa for a ceasefire that include the removal of rebel checkpoints, withdrawal of forces and clarification of the fate of kidnapped foreigners. The government says the rebels must also return captured military and civilian equipment, stay out of local politics and end border hostilities with forces of neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The government's initiative revived tentative feelers to end six years of fighting following the death of 23 Yemeni soldiers in twin rebel attacks in the northern mountains. Rebels ambushed a military supply convoy in Wadi al-Jabara district on the road between the province of Saada on the Saudi border and Al-Jawf province farther east, killing 15 soldiers on Friday, tribal chiefs said. Rebel fighters killed another eight soldiers in clashes on Friday in Saada town, the rebels said on their website. A military source confirmed that rebels had launched an offensive against the town from the suburbs, but said it had been repulsed and that several rebel fighters had been killed. The rebels also attacked the home of a leading trial chief in Saada province, Othman Mujalli, who is a member of the Yemeni parliament and recently rallied to the government, provincial officials said. Mortar fire killed Mujalli's son, Hamid, and four other civilians, they said. Posted by: Fred 2010-02-07 |
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