In Yemen, President Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi surprisingly transferred his power to a new Presidential Council and deposed Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar by decree.

The state news agency Saba reported on Thursday.

The new council should lead the country on an interim basis and also negotiate a "final and comprehensive" solution to the years-long civil war with the Houthi rebels.

Hadi's full powers would be "irrevocably" transferred to the council.

According to the decree, the so-called “presidential leadership council” should lead the country politically, militarily and with a view to security issues for a “transitional period”.

The eight-member council is to be led by former Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi.

The council's mandate is due to expire when "complete peace" is restored in the country.

In Yemen, the internationally recognized government of President Hadi is fighting the Houthi rebels who overran the country in 2014.

The insurgents are backed by Iran, and the Hadi government by a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia.

The war has worn down the heavily impoverished country and plunged it into a humanitarian catastrophe.

Since 2015, the ACLED analysis project has counted more than 150,000 deaths from the war, including 14,000 civilians.

First ceasefire since 2016

Most recently, there was hope for at least a temporary relaxation of the conflict.

A ceasefire came into effect on Saturday at the beginning of the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan - the first nationwide ceasefire since 2016. According to the UN, violence has since decreased significantly.

The new council is also expected to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with the Houthis.

Hadi has been in office since 2012, but has proved too weak to hold the divided country together.

During the Houthi advance, he fled into exile in Riyadh.

Critics see him as a puppet of Saudi Arabia's military alliance, which has repeatedly said it only fights in Yemen at the request of the Hadi government.

At the same time, the internationally recognized president was a final symbol of state legitimacy in Yemen.

The establishment of a presidential council, a kind of collective head of state, is seen as a possible route to a political solution in Yemen.

In the country on the Arabian Peninsula, such a council has existed several times over the past few decades.