18 October 2016•Update: 18 October 2016
By Mourad Arifi
YEMEN
Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi approved a three-day truce Monday, the country’s foreign minister said.
Al-Hadi’s approval came in response to an appeal launched by the U.S. and the United Kingdom on Sunday for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, in a statement posted on his Twitter account wrote that "President Hadi approved a cease-fire 72 hours which can be extended" without stating its entry date in force.
Mekhlafi also asked to reactivate the role of the cease-fire committee and ease the siege on the city of Taiz in the southwest of the country.
Houthis rebels have not commented on the developments.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued the call in a joint statement with Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United Nations envoy to Yemen on Sunday.
Yemen has been racked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran the capital, Sanaa, and other parts of the country, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.
In March of 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.
Last week, the U.S. directly intervened in the conflict through a missile strike on a coastal area held by the Houthi.
* Ilker Girit contributed this story from Istanbul
