Houthis accept Yemen ceasefire offer from Saudi Arabia

Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir announced the proposed ceasefire on Friday with hostilities due to halt on Tuesday.

A Southern Popular Resistance fighter secures a street during fighting against Houthi fighters in the Dar Saad district of Yemen's southern port city of Aden on May 9, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

SANAA // Yemen’s Houthi rebels and their allies in the military on Sunday accepted a five-day humanitarian ceasefire proposed by the Saudi-led military coalition.

Saudi Arabia has warned that the ceasefire, scheduled to begin at 11pm on Tuesday, was conditional on the rebels reciprocating and not exploiting it for military advantage.

The truce offer was made last week to allow food, fuel and medicine to reach civilians after more than a month of fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and their allies and loyalists of the internationally recognised government president, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

Backed by the United States, a coalition of mainly Gulf Arab countries including the UAE has been conducting airstrikes against the Houthis and allied army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said on Sunday that the air campaign was launched to foil a plot by a “sectarian group” to undermine security in the region.

The operation has prevented Yemen from “becoming a theatre for terrorism, discord, and internal fighting, similar to some countries”, King Salman said, in remarks published by the official SPA news agency.

He said the rebels had “threatened neighbouring countries, especially Saudi Arabia, with backing from foreign parties seeking to spread their influence across the region and sow sedition”.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states accuse Iran of trying to expand its influence through support for the Shiite Houthi rebels, including the supply of arms.

King Salman said the Houthis were also “backed by internal Yemeni groups that broke their agreements”, refering to Mr Saleh, who resigned in 2012 under a Saudi-backed deal following a year-long uprising against his rule.

A spokesman for the Houthi-allied army units said they agreed to the truce but would respond to any attacks by Hadi loyalists. The Houthi rebels did not refer explicitly to the Saudi offer, but expressed “readiness to deal positively with any efforts, calls or measures that would help end the suffering” of civilians.

Despite the impending ceasefire, there was fresh rocket fire into Saudi Arabia on Sunday that injured four women in the Najran region, prompting a response from Saudi artillery.

Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Al Assiri said Saudi-led forces would continue retaliating until the ceasefire took effect “if they continue to fire their rockets towards our cities, our population”.

The coalition has intensified its airstrikes since Friday after declaring the rebels had crossed a “red line” with cross-border bombardments last week that killed several people, the first attacks on populated areas of Saudi Arabia since the air campaign began.

Coalition warplanes pounded the Houthi stronghold Saada in the northern mountains for a second straight night on Saturday after declaring the whole province a military target.

Warplanes also launched twin strikes on the Sanaa residence of Mr Saleh, who is accused of orchestrating the alliance between the renegade army units and the rebels.

Saudi Arabia has pushed for a negotiated settlement to Yemen’s conflict through talks between all parties in Riyadh, which Mr Hadi said last week would be held on May 17. The Houthis have refused to take part, insisting along with Iran on a neutral venue.

In an interview to Sky News Arabia broadcast last night, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash said a political solution in Yemen was possible without Iran.

Underlining the threat posed by the Iran-backed rebels, he said: “In January, evidence emerged that the Houthis have missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia.”

The Houthis could be part of the political process based on their real size and not on their arms, Dr Gargash said, rejecting the presence of any Hizbollah-like militias in the Arabian Peninsula.

Dr Gargash said the UAE Air Force has dropped 55 tonnes of relief aid in Aden, acting on the directives of the President Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

More than 25 Emirati ships loaded with food and medical supplies were currently anchored close to the southern port city but were unable to deliver their cargo because of “the intransigence of the Houthi militias”.

Aden, a stronghold of Mr Hadi, has seen intense fighting between the Houthis and Hadi loyalists after the rebels and their allies launched an offensive on the city in late March.

Medics said on Sunday that clashes in the city had killed five civilians over the previous 24 hours.

A military source said 15 rebels were killed in clashes on Sunday, and a local pro-Hadi militia source said four loyalist fighters had died, including a top leader.

A new alliance of local associations, businessmen and activists in Aden, meanwhile, issued a statement appealing for international humanitarian aid.

The Aden Alliance for Popular Aid said the city urgently needed food supplies, medicines, field hospitals and fuel, as well as “safe corridors” within areas of fighting so the wounded could be evacuated.

In Shabwa province farther east, an apparent US drone strike killed four Al Qaeda suspects, a military official said.

Washington considers Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula the most dangerous arm of the terror group and has conducted a campaign of airstrikes against the group in cooperation with Mr Hadi’s government.

Meanwhile, a ship chartered by the UN’s World Food Programme docked in the western port of Hodeida on Sunday, bringing much-needed fuel to boost aid deliveries.

The MV Amsterdam brought 300,000 litres of fuel and supplies for humanitarian organisations, while a second vessel was scheduled to arrive later on Sunday with an additional 120,000 litres of fuel.

The conflict in Yemen has killed more 1,400 people – many of them civilians – since March 19, according to the United Nations.

Also Sunday, the Saudi Press Agency said that a contingent of Malaysian forces had arrived at Saudi air bases, making it the 12th country to join the coalition. It did not give details on the size of the detachment, and Malaysian officials were not immediately available for comment.

* Agence France-Presse, Wam and Associated Press