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| Arabia |
| Houthi leader conforms to govt. ceasefire |
| 2010-02-13 |
| The Houthi leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, has called on all devout supporters to conform to a ceasefire proclaimed by the Yemeni government. "The Houthi movement, hereby, calls on all devout supporters to break off fighting on all fronts and conform to a ceasefire earlier proclaimed by the government," said a statement released by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi's office on Thursday. "All roads will be open, roadblocks removed and tranquility and stability will prevail once the ceasefire is in effect," the statement added. On Thursday, Sana'a reached an agreement with the Houthis to put an end to a long-running government offensive that claimed the lives of civilians and displaced thousands from their homes in northern villages. "The ceasefire is going to be in effect at 12 midnight local time (2100 GMT)," a Yemeni official had said on Thursday. The Yemeni government and the northern Shia resistance fighters, known as Houthis, had been involved in exchanging proposals in recent days to settle the conflict. The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana'a and Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa'ada. Riyadh joined Yemen's offensive against the Houthis after accusing the Shia fighters of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3, 2009. Saudi jets began bombing Yemen's northern villages the following day. According to Houthi fighters, Saudis have used toxic materials, including white phosphorus bombs, indiscriminately in northern Yemen. Houthi fighters said that the US military also was involved in bombing the northern Yemen conflict regions of Amran, Hajjah and Sa'ada. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 250,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa'ada and take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations. |
| Posted by:Fred |