 (AKI) - The commander and imam of Zaidi Shia rebels in Yemen, Abdul Malik al-Houthi has agreed to a government plan to end an insurgency that has claimed the lives of over 4,000 people.
| "Hrarrr! We'll end hostilities, I guess! But we ain't surrenterin'! Remember that!" |
In a letter to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, al-Houthi said he was committed to the 10 points set by the president for an end to fighting in the northwestern province of Saada, reported Yemeni daily '26 September' on Friday.
| "Yeah. I guess we can agree to those ten points, at least until we get some more ammunition!" |
The 10-point plan includes a ceasefire, the laying down of arms by rebels in the northwestern hills, a total disarmament of the Shia militias, and the demining of the area in return for a presidential pardon.
The rebels, who practice Zaidism, an offshoot of Shia Islam, are fighting to restore the Zaydi imamate overthrown in the 1962 revolution. Yemen is a mainly Sunni country, although Saleh is himself a Zaidi. Saleh announced on 17 July that the uprising was over, but sporadic clashes continued. Only an hour after the announcement, rebels launched an assault on the village of Mahza. |