SANAA: The Yemeni government rejected a truce offer of the rebels on Sunday and said it will cease fire only if the rebels accepted a six-point pledge including not to attack Saudi Arabia and to free kidnapped Yemenis and Saudis.
“If the Houthi (rebels) agree to start implementing the six points ... the government does not see a problem in stopping military operations,” Yemen’s Supreme National Defense Council announced.
“We want a clear and specific mechanism to ensure that the fighting will not be resumed,” Saba news agency quoted a council statement.
Rebel leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi had offered in an audio message released on the Internet on Saturday to accept the government’s five conditions to end the war, but demanded a halt to military attacks as a precondition. “I announce our acceptance of the (government’s) five points, after the aggression stops,” he said. “The ball is now in the other party’s court.”
Initially, the government had set five conditions to end the war. The pledge to end attacks against neighboring Saudi Arabia was added after the rebels started fighting Saudi forces on its territory. The five conditions include a withdrawal from official buildings, reopening roads in the north, returning weapons seized from security services, freeing all military and civilian prisoners, including Saudis, and abandoning military posts in the mountains.
Saudi Arabia was forced to join the war on Nov. 4, a day after the rebels killed a Saudi border guard and occupied two villages inside Saudi territory. The rebels announced Jan. 25 that they had withdrawn from Saudi land. The Kingdom said they had been driven out.
Clashes continued in northern Yemen, with the Defense Ministry on Sunday reporting that 24 rebels were killed in separate clashes. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said fighting had erupted on three fronts near Saada, 240 km north of the capital Sanaa, and that government warplanes were carrying out airstrikes in the area.
The Defense Ministry website 26sep.net said a rebel commander, identified as Qaed Abu Malik, was killed along with 20 comrades in the Safia area of Saada province. It also claimed the killing of three other rebels near Al-Aqab, also in Saada province, a stronghold of the rebels.
The secretary-general of the local council in Saada said that the rebel truce offer is another attempt to buy time and regroup after being hammered by the armed forces. “Al-Houthis have cheated the state three times in the past. Each time they reneged on their promises. Security forces will continue to cleanse Saada from the insurgents” he added.
— With input from agencies
