The president of Yemen announced on Thursday April 7 the creation of a new presidential council to lead the bloodless country, ravaged by the war which has been raging since 2014 against the Houthi rebels, announced a state media.
Read alsoIn Yemen, a fragile truce before Ramadan
“
I irreversibly delegate my full powers to this presidential council
,” Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi said in a televised statement early Thursday morning, on the final day of peace talks in the Saudi capital.
This new council will be made up of eight members and will be headed by Rashad al-Alimi, a former interior minister and adviser to Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi - recognized by the international community and supported since 2015 by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia - and the Houthi rebels - backed by Iran who deny supplying them with weapons have been vying for power since insurgents took the capital Sanaa in 2014.
Consensual truce for Ramadan
A truce wrested by the United Nations came into effect on Saturday - the first day of Ramadan, the month of Muslim fasting - offering a glimmer of hope in a war that has caused one of the world's most serious humanitarian crises.
Under this new truce, which can be renewed "
with the consent
" of the belligerents, all military air, land and sea offensives must cease, in this conflict which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, according to the UN, and pushed this poor country on the Arabian Peninsula to the brink of starvation.
Read alsoThe keys to understanding eight years of civil war in Yemen
The announcement of the truce came as discussions on Yemen were being held in Saudi Arabia, in the absence of the rebels, who said they refused to participate in talks in "
enemy
" territory.
