Sanaa - Yemen ceasefire efforts gathered pace Sunday after more than six weeks of Saudi-led air strikes, with rebels saying they would respond "positively" and their allies accepting a US-backed truce plan.
The renegade troops, who helped the Shia Huthi rebels seize much of the country, said they had agreed to the five-day humanitarian truce that Riyadh has offered starting Tuesday.
The rebels did not refer explicitly to the Saudi offer, but expressed "readiness to deal positively with any efforts, calls or measures that would help end the suffering".
Amid the truce moves, a ship chartered by the UN's World Food Programme docked in the western port of Hodeida, bringing precious fuel to boost aid deliveries.
The delivery aimed at "opening up a new humanitarian lifeline for civilians impacted by the conflict" in Yemen, where drastic fuel shortages have hurt aid operations, the WFP said.
The MV Amsterdam brought 300,000 litres of fuel and supplies for humanitarian organisations, while a second vessel would bring an additional 120,000 litres later on Sunday.
The WFP's Yemen director Purnima Kashyap said the fuel will mean aid can reach "hundreds of thousands of people in need of urgent food assistance".
The United Nations has expressed deep concern about the civilian death toll from the bombing campaign and the humanitarian impact of the air and sea blockade that Saudi Arabia and its allies have imposed on Yemen.
AFP
