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Sana'a: A presidential committee to supervise the implementation of a recent Qatari-brokered deal to end armed confrontation between government troops and Al Houthi Shiite rebels north of Yemen has been formed, official sources said yesterday.
The committee, which includes 13 tribal shaikhs and politicians, will head for Sa'ada along with a Qatari committee which is expected to arrive in Sana'a late today.
The three main opposition parties, Islamists, Socialists and Nasserites, refused to participate in the new committee saying, "There is no honour for constitutional institutions" in an apology letter to President Ali Abdullah Saleh who wanted them to participate in the new committee.
The move came one week after the Emir of Qatar sponsored a meeting in Doha between representatives of the Yemeni government and representatives of the rebels who signed an agreement to resume talks towards ending the conflict and bringing peace according to a previous Qatari-brokered deal.
Only one day after this new agreement was reached in Doha last Friday, at least 10 people were killed, including three soldiers. Several others were injured in sporadic clashes between the two sides in Haidan and Jumat Bani Fadhel in Sa'ada until last Tuesday.
Local sources in Sa'ada said, however, relative quiet has prevailed after ceasefire instructions from both sides were issued.
A previous presidential committee and also a Qatari committee went back and forth over the second half of last year without achieving any concrete steps towards implementation of a 10-point agreement signed between the rebels and government last June, through Qatari mediation.
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