Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on television a ceasefire in fighting against rebels in the north of the country to take effect from midnight on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday). The announcement came after reports that the Yemeni government and the rebels were close to reaching a deal to end six months of fighting. The truce was made possible after the rebels accepted six conditions put forward by the government for the cessation of hostilities. “We decided to stop military operations in the northwest region starting from midnight tonight,” a government statement broadcast on state media said. The leader of the rebels also ordered his fighters to abide by the ceasefire. Yemeni officials have said that as part of a ceasefire deal, Sana'a would allow rebel representatives to sit on a committee overseeing the truce, and insurgents would hand over weapons they seized from the Yemeni forces. The conditions demanded of the rebels include opening roads and freeing detained soldiers and civilians. Yemen says the rebels must also return captured military and civilian equipment, stay out of local politics and end border hostilities with Saudi Arabia. One official said President Saleh had briefed a committee charged with supervising conditions for a truce on his decision to stop the war. Yemen state television said the government and rebels had also formed smaller joint committees to supervise the truce in four areas, including on the Yemen-Saudi border. The committees were to start work Friday, and one official said they would be flexible on the timeline for truce conditions to be fulfiled. The rebels said they would start opening the roads and removing checkpoints once the truce stabilized. The deadline for the full implementation of the truce had been a point of contention, with the rebels asking for more time for their fighters to leave mountainous positions, they said.
