Abu Dhabi: The armed Al Houthi movement and Saudi-led military alliance fighting in Yemen have agreed to observe a cessation of hostilities from November 17, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday.
Both parties have also agreed to work towards forming a unity government, he added.
The country’s near 20-month war has pitted the Iran-aligned Al Houthis against the Saudi-backed government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, killing more than 10,000 people and displaced more than three million.
Speaking after talks in Oman, which is hosting an Al Houthi delegation, and the UAE, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition supporting Hadi, Kerry said he had presented the parties with a document calling on pushing a proposed peace deal that included a call for a ceasefire.
He said Al Houthis have agreed to “abide by the terms of the April 10 cessation of hostilities beginning on November 17, provided the other party implements the same commitment and thus far the Emiratis and the Saudis... they have both agreed to try to move forward with this.” He was referring to a ceasefire that began in April and lasted until the end of August when UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait ended in disagreement Kerry also said the parties “have agreed to work towards the establishing a new national unity government in a safe and secure Sana’a...as a goal towards the end of the year”.
The Yemeni government however reacted to Kerry’s announcement with anger, with its foreign minister saying that Kerry’s announcement is aimed at scuttling peace efforts and striking a deal with Al Houthis behind its back.
Abdul Malek Al Mekhlafi said on Tuesday his government was not interested in the ceasefire and unity government announcement by Kerry.
“The government was not aware of nor is it interested in what Secretary Kerry announced, which represents a desire to scuttle peace efforts by trying to reach an agreement with the Houthis apart from the government,” Mekhlafi wrote on his official twitter page.
A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in a civil war to back internationally recognised President Abd-Rabu Mansour Hadi against the Iran-allied Al Houthi movement in March 2015.