Yemen rebels agree ceasefire

Yemeni officials said a Qatari delegation had mediated between the rebels and the government.

 

 

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes in the the latest bout of conflict that has raged on and off since 2004.

 

In 2006, the government freed more than 600 of al-Houthi’s followers in an amnesty but in January fighting erupted again following rebel attacks on the army.

 

Sunni Muslims are a majority of Yemen’s 19 million population, while many of the rest are from the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam.

 

The rebels say their mountainous region, like many parts of Yemen, has been neglected.

 

Western diplomats say they may want more autonomy.

 

Yemen, the ancestral home of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has supported the US-led ‘war on terror’.