Yemen government accepts UN peace plan

Yemen’s government on Sunday accepted a UN-proposed plan to end fighting that has left thousands dead, but there was no word from Iran-backed rebels who have intensified attacks on the Saudi border.

The draft agreement, which follows several months of UN-brokered negotiations in Kuwait, stipulates that the Huthi Shia rebels must withdraw from Sanaa, which they overran in September 2014.

But it was unclear if the insurgents were ready to end their occupation of the capital, which they have refused to cede despite a more than year-long military campaign by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Yemen, a key US ally in the fight against Al Qaeda, descended into chaos after the 2012 ouster of long-time strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Security deteriorated further after the Huthi rebels swept into the capital and pushed south, forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government to flee into exile in March last year.

The conflict has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.8 million since then, according to UN figures. Over 80 per cent of the population urgently needs humanitarian aid.

The proposed peace deal is broadly in line with the demands of Mr Hadi’s Saudi-backed government.

On one hand a Saudi army officer and six soldiers were killed in clashes with Iran-backed Yemeni rebels who attempted to infiltrate the kingdom’s borders, the Riyadh-led coalition has said.

Shia Huthi rebels backed by renegade troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh tried to infiltrate the borders in the southern Najran area, the coalition fighting the rebels on Saturday said in a statement carried by the SPA state news agency.