Yemen rebels agree to state-proposed truce

SANAA, June 16 (Reuters) Yemeni Shi'ite rebels said today they had accepted a ceasefire proposed by the government to end months of violent clashes that have killed hundreds in the north of the Arab country.

''In response to the call ... and to prevent bloodshed, we declare a stop to violence and fighting and our commitment to the republican system and the constitution,'' said rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in a statement sent to journalists.

Yemen's state news agency said on Thursday government forces would stop military operations against the rebels if they laid down their arms.

The rebels oppose Yemen's close alliance with the United States.

Officials say the group wants to install clerical rule.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes in the latest bout of a conflict that has raged on and off since 2004.

In 2006, the government freed more than 600 of Houthi's followers in an amnesty but in January fighting erupted again following rebel attacks on the army.

Sunni Muslims are a majority of Yemen's 19 million population, while most of the rest are from the Zaydi branch of Shi'ite Islam.

The rebels say their mountainous region, like many parts of Yemen, has been neglected. Western diplomats say they may want more autonomy.

Yemen, the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, joined the US-led war on terrorism after the September 11 2001 attacks in the United States.

Houthi's supporters are not linked to al Qaeda, whose Yemeni supporters attacked the US destroyer Cole in 2000 and a French oil tanker in 2001 off the coast of Yemen.

REUTERS GT MIR RAI2316