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Yemen announces truce with rebels Yemen declares truce with rebels
(about 3 hours later)
The Yemeni authorities have announced a ceasefire with Shia rebels fighting government forces in the north. The Yemeni authorities have declared a ceasefire with rebels fighting government forces in the north.
The truce is to start at midnight local time (2100 GMT) and comes after days of negotiations between the government and rebels on how to end the conflict. The truce started at midnight local time (2100 GMT) and came after days of negotiations between the government and rebels on how to end the conflict.
The government launched its latest offensive against the rebels, known as Houthis, last August. The leader of the rebels, known as Houthis, ordered his men to abide by the truce.
Saudi Arabia has been drawn into the conflict, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The rebels have been battling Yemen's army since 2004. More than 250,000 have been displaced in the region.
News of the ceasefire was issued in a presidential decree which was read out on state television, according to the AFP news agency. The government launched its latest offensive against the rebels last August. Saudi Arabia has also been drawn into the conflict.
"We decided to stop military operations in the north-west from midnight," the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, declared. Observers say many will question how long the declared truce may last.
There has been no immediate response from the rebels. The Yemeni government still faces two other conflicts: against southern separatists and militants sympathetic to al-Qaeda.
The Yemeni announcement comes after the rebels reportedly accepted several conditions, including a pledge not to attack Saudi Arabia, put forward by the government to end the hostilities. Rebel statement
Houthi rebels from the minority Shia Zaidi sect based in the north-western Saada district have been battling the government since 2004. News of the ceasefire came in a presidential decree read out on state television.
The UN refugee agency says 250,000 Yemenis have been displaced by fighting in the region. "We decided to stop military operations in the north-west from midnight," the decree said.
In a statement in response, rebel leader Abdel-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi ordered his fighters to "cease combat on all fronts at the hours announced by the government".
"Once the ceasefire is consolidated, we will proceed to reopening roads and dismantling checkpoints and barricades," the statement added.
The move comes after the rebels reportedly accepted several conditions, including a pledge not to attack Saudi Arabia, put forward by the government to end the hostilities.
Houthi rebels from the minority Shia Zaidi sect based in the north-western Saada district have been battling the government for more than five years.