Yemen's Shiite insurgents, army rebels back 5-day cease-fire
Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies in the country's splintered armed forces said Sunday they would accept a five-day humanitarian cease-fire to allow aid to reach civilians after more than a month of airstrikes from a Saudi-led military coalition.
The cease-fire, scheduled to begin Tuesday, would help ease the suffering of civilians in the Arab world's poorest country who increasingly lack food, fuel and medicine since the bombing campaign began March 26. However, all sides in the conflict have warned they will retaliate if the cease-fire is broken. On Sunday, state news agency SABA, which is under the control of the Shiite rebels known as Houthis, quoted Col. Sharaf Ghalib Luqman as saying rebels in the armed forces agreed with the cease-fire. The Houthis earlier issued their own statement saying they will cooperate with the cease-fire and urging a return to dialogue.
