Yemen ready to fight Shiite rebels for years, says President

YEMEN'S President warned that the government could continue its fight against Shiite rebels in the rugged mountainous north for years but said hostilities could end if the rebels agree to a conditional ceasefire.

"We will continue the battle for five or six years. We will not backtrack, we will not stop," Ali Abdullah Saleh said at a celebration to mark the anniversary of the 1962 revolution that ended the Zaidi Shiite imamate and established the republic.

"If the rebels abided by the six points (of the truce), we do not want war. It is a war that was imposed on us," he said to cheering crowds shouting "No" and urging him to continue the war.

Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes since August 11 when the government began its "Scorched Earth" offensive against the Zaidi rebels, also known as Huthis.

The government offered the rebels a truce but demanded that they "respect the ceasefire and the opening of roads, evacuate their positions and free captured civilians and soldiers".

Mr Saleh called on political groups in Yemen to stand united to "support the army in its war against the rebels".

Source: The Australian