Saudi Arabia announces 5-day ceasefire in Yemen

The US and the Saudi-led coalition announced a five-day ceasefire in Yemen beginning on May 12 as diplomatic efforts to end weeks of bombing finally bear fruit.

The truce, agreed despite the lack of a formal response from Shia Houthi rebels to demands to stop fighting, comes as international concern grows over the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.

John Kerry, who held talks with Gulf Co-operation Council foreign ministers in Paris on Friday, announced the measure with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir.

The meeting was held to reassure sceptical Gulf states about the proposed nuclear deal with Iran ahead of crunch talks between President Barack Obama and GCC leaders next week on the same sensitive issue.

The US has been seeking to end Saudi-led operations against Yemen as aid agencies have warned that the impoverished state is on the edge of collapse.

The five-day ceasefire will start in five days, giving agencies time to liaise with local and coalition forces. Aid, including vital supplies of fuel and food, will be prepared for rapid entry into the country.

Mr Kerry said the ceasefire is conditional on the Houthis refraining from bombing, shooting, repositioning troops or moving heavy weapons.

"A humanitarian catastrophe is building," he warned, adding that anyone who cares about Yemen would help put the ceasefire in place.

As the announcement was made, Saudi jets were resuming bombing raids on the Houthi stronghold of Sa'dah, northern Yemen. Hours earlier planes dropped leaflets into the city, warning civilians to leave what they describe as a "military war zone."

Yemeni officials said that more than 50 airstrikes had hit the city overnight and in the early hours of Friday morning.

The escalation of tensions in the north of Yemen comes after Houthi rebels earlier this week shelled the border with Saudi Arabia, killing 10 people.

The Saudis had agreed to a truce as long as the Houthi rebels, who are backed by forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, reciprocated. Riyadh is concerned that the Houthi forces will use any ceasefire to press ahead with territorial gains.

Rebel forces made progress towards taking the southern port city of Aden in its entirety this week, prompting the government in exile in Riyadh, led by President Abd Rabbuh Hadi, to call for a UN peacekeeping mission into the country.

Riyadh has struggled to gain support from its allies for help with a ground offensive, which would place troops in danger thanks to the Houthis' greater on-the-ground experience.

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation