Yemeni Shia rebels are expected to hand over five captive Saudi soldiers in less than a week, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported on Sunday, following a 48-hour ultimatum set by Riyadh.
Yemen's government promised also on Sunday to extend state control into rebel areas including the border with Saudi Arabia, adding that some violations of a cease-fire newly agreed with Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the northern rebels' leader, should be expected.
Saudi Arabia has demanded that the rebels, who are in conflict with both Riyadh and Sanaa, should hand over the five missing soldiers. It says this would prove they are serious about ending the fight with Riyadh which has raged since insurgents seized some Saudi territory in November. "The handover operations of prisoners of war after the end of the Saudi confrontations against the Houthi infiltrators are part of the cease-fire agreement between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels," Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted an unidentified Yemeni security official as saying. "The handover operations are expected to be completed in less than a week," he added. Asharq al-Awsat is owned by a nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
Officials at the Saudi defence ministry could not be immediately reached for comment. Yemen, in addition to fighting the rebels, is also battling southern separatists and al Qaeda, which has made the country its regional base. The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a US plane in December had links to Yemen.
Riyadh and Western powers fear impoverished Yemen may become a failed state and that al Qaeda could exploit the chaos to use the country as a base for attacks in the region and beyond. Last month the Shia rebels offered Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, a truce and said they had left the kingdom's territory. They had previously accused Riyadh of letting Yemeni troops use Saudi land to attack them. Riyadh later declared victory over the rebels, and on Saturday gave them 48 hours to hand over the captured Saudis.
TRUCE VIOLATIONS:
The rebels, whose main battle is with Yemen's central government, agreed on Thursday to a truce with Sanaa to end a conflict that has raged on and off since 2004, with rebels complaining of social, religious and economic discrimination.
The car of Interior Ministry under-secretary Mohammed al-Qawsi came under fire on Friday, hours after the cease-fire agreement was to have officially begun, in the northern city of Saada, and a soldier was also killed by rebels on Friday.
Qawsi said after the attack that minor truce violations had occurred because not everyone was aware of the cease-fire, but that the deal still held. The rebels denied carrying out the assassination attempt.
Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said Sanaa was operating on the basis that the rebels were serious about ending the war. "Ending war does not come without violations here or there," he told Sunday's edition of Asharq al-Awsat.
"This is because of the nature of wars and the nature of fighting elements and that is because of differences there may be between them. But I don't expect that to cause a problem in the path to achieve peace and security," he added. Previous truces with the rebels have not lasted. "We are proceeding on the basis of there being sincere intent from the Houthis just as there is a sincere intent from our side to make this war the last one," Qirbi said. "As His Excellency President Ali Abdullah Saleh said, we want to move on from wars to development," he said, noting that Sanaa had set up a special reconstruction fund in 2008.
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