Ceasefire agreed after fighting intensifies in capital of Yemen

A ceasefire has halted clashes near the presidential palace in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, after Shia rebels seized control of state-run media in a move that an official called “a step toward a coup”.

The fighting marked the biggest challenge yet to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi by the rebels, known as Houthis, who swept down from their northern strongholds last year and captured the capital in September.

The violence has plunged the Arab world's poorest country further into chaos and could impair US efforts to battle al-Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate, which claimed responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo this month.

The Houthis are seen by critics as a proxy of Shia Iran, charges they deny. They have vowed to eradicate al-Qaeda, but are also hostile to the US. Their slogan is "Death to Israel, death to America".

Stand-off

The Houthis and forces loyal to Mr Hadi have been in a stand-off for months in the capital and the two sides traded blame for the outbreak of violence yesterday. Witnesses said machine-gun fire could be heard around the presidential palace. Civilians fled as columns of black smoke rose over the palace.

Mr Hadi does not live in the palace, and extra soldiers and tanks were deployed around his residence nearby.

The convoys of Yemen's prime minister and a presidential adviser affiliated with the Houthis came under fire, while Houthi fighters took over Yemen state television and its official news agency, information minister Nadia Sakkaf said. "This is a step toward a coup and it is targeting the state's legitimacy," she told Associated Press.

At least three people were killed, a medical official said. The health ministry said that more than 50 were wounded.

Yemeni activist Hisham Al-Omeisy, who lives near the presidential palace, said fighting began after 6am local time with a shell hitting a hill controlled by the Houthis. They responded with artillery fire, he said. He later saw two bodies in civilian clothes outside his house. He could not tell if the dead were civilians or Houthis, who do not wear uniforms.

Military camp

The ceasefire was negotiated by a presidential committee that included the interior and defence ministers, a presidential aide and a tribal sheik close to the Houthis. It came after witnesses said the rebels had seized control of hills overlooking the palace and a nearby military camp.

Khaled al-Radhi, 35, a military contractor who lives by the hills, said: “This ceasefire came late. The group took control of the area.”

The latest violence appears to be linked to the Houthis’ rejection of a draft constitution that would divide Yemen into six federal regions. On Saturday, Houthis kidnapped one of Mr Hadi’s aides to disrupt a meeting on the charter. – (Reuters)