Rival groups in Yemen have signed a UN-brokered peace deal after Shiite rebels seized the government headquarters and the prime minister resigned following raging violence in the capital.
“A national peace and partnership agreement based on the outcomes of the national dialogue conference was signed this evening at the presidential palace” in Sana’a, state news agency Saba reported on Sunday.
Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar and representatives of Yemen’s political forces, including the Shiite rebels, attended the signing ceremony, the report said.
Photo: AFP
“We have reached a final deal with which we can overcome this crisis,” Hadi said in a speech.
Benomar said the agreement calls for the formation of a new government within one month. Under the terms of the deal, Hadi is also to appoint advisers from the Shiite Ansarullah rebels and southern separatists within three days, Benomar said at the signing ceremony broadcast on state television.
A new prime minister to replace Mohamed Basindawa is to be named by Hadi, also within three days, and must be “neutral and not belonging to any party,” according to the agreement read by Benomar.
Two representatives of rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi signed on behalf of the insurgents, said a journalist who attended the ceremony.
The rebels earlier on Sunday swooped on key institutions across Sana’a, including the government headquarters. Under the accord, the rebels must hand over institutions they have seized, dismantle protest camps they set up in and around Sana’a more than a month ago, and “immediately end all acts of violence.”
After the deal was signed, Saba reported that the rebels began withdrawing from government buildings in a handover overseen by Yemeni Defence Minister General Mohammed Nasser Ahmed.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the agreement marked a “positive step towards political stability and peace in the country,” according to a statement issued by his spokesman. Ban also “expected that the agreement will be implemented in full without delay.”
In a resignation letter, Basindawa accused Hadi of being “autocratic,” according to the text of the letter released by the council of ministers.
“The partnership between myself and the president in leading the country only lasted for a short period, before it was replaced by autocracy to the extent that the government and I no longer knew anything about the military and security situation,” he wrote.
His resignation had come as rebels overran state radio, the general command of the armed forces, headquarters of the sixth military region, the fourth brigade and the defense ministry’s media arm, official and rebel sources said.
They swept into the parliament building and took over the central bank and civil aviation authority, the sources said. The interior ministry’s Web site urged security forces not to confront the insurgents.
Yemeni Interior Minister Abdo al-Tarib instead urged “cooperation” with the rebels “to strengthen security and stability, preserve public property and guard government installations ... and to consider Ansarullah friends of the police.”
The rebels had advanced into Sana’a from their mountain stronghold in the far north last month and set up armed protest camps to press their demands for political change. Their offensive had been denounced by Hadi on Friday as a “coup attempt.”
After consulting his newly appointed advisers, Hadi is expected to name the ministers of defense, interior, foreign affairs and finance.
The new premier is set to choose the remaining ministers from among candidates presented to him from the various political parties. Hadi had already agreed to bring the rebels into a new government to replace the unpopular administration that imposed austerity measures, including a fuel price hike, earlier this year.
The rebels are from the Zaidi Shiite community, which makes up 30 percent of Yemen’s mostly Sunni nation but the majority community in the northern highlands, including the Sana’a region.
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