Yemen truce takes effect after week of US pressure

Aden : A 48-hour ceasefire announced by a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen began on Saturday, after the beleaguered government finally agreed to a US peace push.

The government, which has deep reservations about a UN peace blueprint it believes undermines its authority, had previously rejected a ceasefire plan announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry after talks with the rebels in Oman earlier this week.

But it has come under huge pressure to back down in the face of an international outcry over the mounting civilian death toll from 20 months of conflict.

"There are international pressures to observe a ceasefire and to resume (peace) negotiations," a source close to the presidency told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The announcement of the ceasefire came not from the government but from the coalition which intervened to prop it up in March last year.

"It has been decided to begin a 48-hour ceasefire from 12:00 noon Yemen time (0900 GMT) on Saturday," a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

It added that the truce could be extended if the rebels hold fire and allow aid deliveries to besieged loyalist enclaves.

A spokesman for forces allied to the Huthi rebels, Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, confirmed that they would abide by the ceasefire.

"Based on the agreement reached in Muscat, we affirm our commitment to the ceasefire if the other party respects it," Luqman said, referring to the accord signed with Kerry in the Omani capital on Monday. 

Six previous attempts to clinch a ceasefire have foundered, the latest in October.

The government of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has been deeply reluctant to accept UN proposals to form a unity administration with the rebels for fear of undermining his legitimacy.

The coalition underlined that the ceasefire came at Hadi's request.

The president asked Saudi King Salman for the pause "in response to UN and international efforts to bring peace to Yemen" and allow aid deliveries, its statement said.