The deal was signed in Qatar, where Yemeni officials and rebels have been in talks since Tuesday, members of both delegations said Friday.
Successful implementation of the deal would be a huge relief to the government, which is struggling to curb a rising southern separatist movement and a resurgent Al-Qaeda wing that has increasingly targeted the state in recent months.
The Qatar-mediated deal, signed late Thursday, calls for "a final close to the war and the start of political dialogue."
Yemeni delegations hammered out a 22-point agreement that would guide both sides to meeting obligations under a February truce which had been punctuated with violence from both sides.
Qatar, trying to bolster its image as a regional peacemaker, brokered a north Yemen peace accord in 2008 before the region slipped back into war and last year drew in Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has faced increasing pressure from its neighbors and Western powers to resolve domestic conflicts in order to focus on Al-Qaeda, which they fear will use instability in the Arabian Peninsula state to launch attacks regionally and beyond.
Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based wing claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack on a US-bound plane in December and has carried out attacks on Saudi, British, and Yemeni targets.
News of the agreement coincided with reports that gunmen had kidnapped Yemen's deputy head of intelligence, Ali Al-Hosam, in the northern city of Saada. A local official said authorities were investigating the incident and had no information yet as to who was behind the kidnapping.
The war between the state and the northern rebels has displaced 350,000 people. Despite the truce, sporadic clashes in the north, particularly between rebels and pro-government tribes, have killed dozens of people.
Among the main points of the agreement, rebels were required to return stolen Yemeni military weapons to their Qatari mediator, while the government would release rebel prisoners — a main rebel demand before the talks.
Other points called for the removal of land mines throughout the region, a guarantee of safe passage from both sides allowing displaced people to return home, and the release of any schools, government buildings, or homes that had been seized.
