In Yemen, a two-month truce comes into effect on Saturday, April 2, under an agreement wrested by the United Nations from pro-government forces and Houthi rebels, engaged in a devastating war. 

In this conflict which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, according to the UN, and pushed this poor country in the Arabian Peninsula to the brink of famine, a previous nationwide truce agreed in 2016 between the belligerents and others decided unilaterally have fizzled.

The nationwide cessation of hostilities is to come into effect at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. GMT), on the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, UN envoy Hans Grundberg said in a statement on Friday.

"The belligerents responded positively to the United Nations' proposal for a two-month truce," he said, stressing that it could be "renewed with (their) consent."

A series of attacks at the end of March 

The announcement is the culmination of efforts by Hans Grundberg, who has been trying for months to reach a truce and relaunch negotiations for a settlement in Yemen, where rival regional powers Sunni Saudi Arabia and Iran Shiites, are engaged in a proxy war.

On Thursday, the UN envoy spoke separately with representatives of the Houthis in Oman and in recent days with those of the Yemeni power and the Saudi kingdom in Riyadh.

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The coalition said it "supports the Yemeni government's agreement for a truce" as well as "UN efforts to consolidate it".

Efforts for a truce have intensified after an escalation in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.

On March 25, they launched 16 attacks against targets in the kingdom, one of which caused a huge fire at an oil site in Jeddah (west) near the Formula 1 circuit which hosted the Grand Prix.

These attacks caused no casualties.

In retaliation, Saudi aircraft bombarded areas controlled by the Houthis.

"The parties have agreed to halt all air, land and sea offensives in Yemen and beyond its borders," Hans Grundberg said.

Hope for a "lasting peace"

The tankers will also be "allowed to enter the ports of the province of Hodeïda (west)" and possible commercial flights "from and to the airport of the capital Sanaa, with predetermined destinations", according to him.

The coalition controls Yemen's air and maritime space and only UN flights are authorized via Sanaa, a "blockade" denounced by the Houthis.

In this context of de-escalation, the belligerents "agreed to meet under the aegis (of the UN) to open roads in Taiz and in other regions of Yemen", according to Hans Grundberg.

After seven years of intervention, the Saudi-led coalition has failed to dislodge rebels from conquered areas in northern Yemen.

According to observers, the rebels display a certain intransigence attributed to the lack of firmness of the international community towards them.

The United States welcomed the new truce but stressed the need to reach "a compromise that can bring lasting peace".

For its part, France considered that it was "a major step forward which should make it possible to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and which brings hope".

With AFP

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