Yemeni president announces ceasefire with Houthi rebels

The Yemeni authorities have announced a ceasefire with Shia rebels fighting government forces in the north.

The truce is to start at midnight local time and comes after days of the government and rebels exchanging proposals on how to end the conflict.

The government launched its latest offensive against the rebels, known as Houthis, last August.

Saudi Arabia has been drawn into the conflict, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

News of the ceasefire was issued in a presidential decree which was read out on state television, according to the AFP news agency.

“We decided to stop military operations in the north-west from midnight,” the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, declared. BBC