Gulf | Yemen
Government and Shiite rebels ready to implement truce deal
The Yemeni government and Shiite rebels agreed on Friday to implement provisions of a ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar last June, the official Qatari news agency reported.
- AP
- Published: 00:44 February 3, 2008
Doha: The Yemeni government and Shiite rebels agreed on Friday to implement provisions of a ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar last June, the official Qatari news agency reported.
The original ceasefire agreement was an attempt to stop three years of sporadic fighting between Shiite rebels and the government that killed thousands on both sides, but clashes resumed in January after rebels refused to hand over their weapons and accused the government of not fulfilling its obligations.
The news agency said the renewed commitment to the ceasefire deal was signed by rebel leader Abdul Malek Al Houthi and Abdul Karim Al Eryani, an adviser to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Shaikh Ahmad Habra Al Thani, the son of Qatar's Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa, was present for Friday's signing in Doha.
The ceasefire agreement signed in June calls for the Yemeni government to free rebel detainees, pay compensation to victims and rebuild villages ravaged by fighting. In exchange, the rebels were supposed to turn over their weapons and expel Al Houthi, a move the rebel leader has refused.
The news report did not provide details of Friday's agreement, and it was unclear if any amendments had been made to the original cease-fire deal. Yemen's Shiite rebellion erupted in June 2004 when Al Houthi's brother, cleric Hussain Badr Al Deen, ordered his followers to take up arms against the government. The cleric was eventually killed in a battle later that year, but his brother took his place.
The ceasefire agreement signed in June held until January when renewed fighting broke out, with Yemeni troops shelling villages in Sa'ada province, a Shiite rebel stronghold, and guerrillas launching attacks on army camps in the nearby Marran mountains. Tens of people - a mix of rebels and civilians - were killed in the past weeks.
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