Yemen rebel allies accept Saudi ceasefire proposal

Renegade Yemeni troops who have helped Shiite rebels to seize much of the country said on Sunday that they had accepted a Saudi proposal for a ceasefire later this week.

“Following mediation from friendly countries to establish a humanitarian truce that would end the tyrannical blockade and permit commercial ships to reach Yemeni ports and allow humanitarian aid in, we announce our agreement to the humanitarian truce,” spokesman Colonel Sharaf Luqman told the rebel-controlled Saba news agency.

There was still no word from the rebels themselves on any acceptance of the proposal by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir for a five-day ceasefire starting from Tuesday.

Troops who remained loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh after he was forced from power in early 2012 played a major part in the rebels’ capture of swathes of the country beyond their stronghold in the mainly Shiite northern highlands.

The renegade units’ announcement of their acceptance of Saudi Arabia’s offer of a break in the air campaign it has led for more than six weeks came just hours after Saudi-led warplanes bombed Saleh’s residence in the capital Sanaa.

The former strongman, who ruled in Sanaa for more than three decades before he was forced out by a bloody year-long uprising, was not believed to have been at home when the twin strikes hit.