Yemen's warring sides pledge to disarm

28/09/2014| IslamWeb

Yemen's Houthi Shia rebels have signed a final part of a peace deal with the government, days after taking control of much of the capital Sanaa.

The deal signed on Saturday is an extension of the UN-brokered agreement signed earlier on Monday and is expected to put an end to weeks of ongoing violence.

Under the latest agreement, the rebels must stop all acts of violence.

Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, reporting from Sanaa, said that the Houthi rebels signed the appendix overnight on Saturday and other parties inked it later in the day.

By signing the five-point-appendix, all parties pledged to stop acts of violence in the country, Vall said.

According to the document, the UN is expected to provide technical help in disarming the rebels.

"In Omran region, the new prime minister is to form a committee within five days to complete the administrative, security and military arrangements in order to impose the country's authority...," said the signed agreement.

The deal also seeks to bring an immediate halt of fighting in Al-Jwf and Marrib regions, where all military groups coming from outside the two governorates are ordered to withdraw from.

Violence in Sanaa

Houthi rebels seized control of much of Sanaa last week, hours before the accord was signed with other political parties providing for the creation of a new government.

Rebels attacked the house of Ali al-Ahmadi, the national security chief, in the capital's Hadda neighborhood early on Saturday.

One soldier and two rebels were killed in the fighting, while 15 people - six soldiers and nine Houthis - were wounded, the residents and security sources told the Reuters news agency.

Also on Saturday, an unidentified attacker fired a rocket at the special police guarding the US embassy in Sanaa, police sources said.

The rocket was fired from a car and landed 200 meters from the heavily fortified embassy, which lies in a compound surrounded by high walls in the capital.

At least two of the guardsmen were injured in the assault.

On Friday, the US told its citizens in Yemen to leave and said it was reducing the number of US government staff there due to political unrest and fears of a possible military escalation.

PHOTO CAPTION

Yemeni military academy cadets march during a parade marking the 52nd anniversary the country's National Day in Sana'a, Yemen, 27 September 2014

Al-Jazeera