Tribal mediators halt fighting in north

Tribal mediators from Marib and Hashid tribes succeeded on Saturday in reaching a ceasefire between al-Houthi rebels and an army-backed tribe after three days of fighting that has left at least 70 people dead, a tribal source said.

Sheikh Qassem Qubaida, who led the mediation team of tribal chiefs, told AFP that the al-Houthi rebels and the Bin Aziz tribe, led by MP Sheikh Sagheer Aziz, were “persuaded ... to stop firing”.

He said that the fighting which had flared up again on Friday night around the village of Bin Aziz in Harf Sufyan, in northern Amran province, stopped at around 11am (1800 AEST) on Saturday.

Al-Houthi rebels and the government had reached a cease fire that ended long term fighting for 5 months, on February 13, 2010.

Both sides had accused each other of breaching the ceasefire many times. The latest accusations came when 6 members of parliament from Sa’adah province accused al-Houthis of assassinating sheikhs of tribes that supported the government during the sixth war in Sa’adah and Amran provinces.

Al-Houthis also accused what they called war lords of assassinating their members and provoking a seventh war.

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