Bombs rock Yemen while warring parties meet

An agreement between warring factions in Yemen came a step closer on Monday, after the office of the president and the Houthis began dialogue talks.

Yemen's official news agency, SABA, reported that the meeting on Monday took place between the leadership of the Houthis, a Zaydi Shia group, and presidential advisers in the Houthi stronghold of Saada province in northern Yemen.

Agreement resolution

Theoretically, the talks should speed up the establishment of a joint committee, as stated in the Peace and National Partnership Agreement after the Houthi takeover of the capital in September.

Although the agreement essentially thwarted a coup, it led to the resignation of the former prime minister, Mohammed Salem Bassindwa.

Details of any deal between the government and the Houthis remain unclear. Up for debate are the number of regions that would make up any future Yemeni federal state, and any solutions to the tensions in the provinces of Marib in the north, and Taiz in central Yemen.

Revolution on hold 

On Saturday, celebrated as the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi made a televised speech to the nation speaking of a plan to transform Yemen into a six-region federation.

This, he said, was an attempt to "fragment" and "break up" the nation into cantons that would make it easier for Sanaa to control the country.

Houthi said the federation plan was an attempt to 'fragment' and 'break up' the nation into cantons.

Houthi said that the country needed to preserve the "gains of the 21 September revolution", the day his insurgent fighters entered the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

He also urged Yemenis to resist the temptations of "foreign schemes" designed to fragment the country.

Despite the steps taken between Sanaa and the Houthis to agree on a national reconciliation plan, the country's security situation remains perilious.

Divided nation

Armed groups have launched a wave of attacks against both the Houthis and central government since September, while separatist sentiments in the south of the country remain strong.

On Monday, an explosion claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula hit a Houthi base in the Yemeni capital, killing at least four people. 

In the south, separatist rallies were held by supporters of the Southern Movement on Monday.

Roads in several southern cities were blocked, part of an ongoing civil disobedience campaign against the government, held every Monday.

Meanwhile, in the southern province of al-Dali, local sources say that clashes broke out between suspected secessionist militants and the national army.

Fighting broke out when militants suspected of belonging to the Southern Movement attacked the 33rd armoured brigade barracks in the provincial capital, leaving three soldiers dead.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.