Government cautious as rebels accept peace plan

Yemen’s government has dismissed as a ‘‘manoeuvre’’ the Houthi rebels’ acceptance of a United Nations-sponsored peace plan, and has demanded that the Iran-backed group hand back territory it has seized since last year.

A Western diplomat, however, said the Houthis had expressed acceptance of UN Security Council demands for an end to violence and added that if the Yemeni Government refused to talk with the rebels, it would look like a stalling tactic.

The Houthis, who control much of Yemen along with the party of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said they had officially informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon of their readiness to join talks to end more than six months of fighting in which more than 5000 people have died.

Asked about the overture, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s press secretary, Mokhtar Alrahbi, said: ‘‘The government’s position is unchanged. There must be an announcement of willingness to implement all articles of the resolution without any changes.

‘‘We consider this [Houthi acceptance] a manoeuvre, especially after the painful strikes they received,’’ said Alrahbi, referring to advances by coalition forces east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the capture of the Bab al-Mandab strait in southwest Yemen.

The Houthi letter to Ban said the group fully accepted UN Security Council resolution 2216 from April. That resolution called on all sides, including the Houthis, to end the violence and avoid unilateral actions that jeopardise the country’s political transition.

The resolution also demanded that the Houthis withdraw from all areas seized during the conflict.

The Saudi-led coalition and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi view the Houthis as proxies for Iran and regard Saleh as a spoiler trying to undermine a political accord that allowed him to step down following months of protests in 2011. The coalition has made progress on the battlefield in recent weeks.