There are conflicting reports coming out of Yemen about a possible ceasefire between government troops and Shi’ite rebels.

A rebel leader yesterday said he was prepared to accept government conditions for a truce.

But today deadly clashes have broken out in the northern Saada region and Saudi troops are reported to have exchanged fire with rebels who have crossed the border.

Yesterday it seemed the rebels had agreed to a ceasefire, but now the government is reported to have rejected it, apparently because key conditions have not been respected.

The latest clashes in the north come only days after the rebels said they had withdrawn from Saudi land.

More on this story from Reuters:

Yemen rejected a ceasefire offer from Shi’ite rebels on Sunday and said there had been clashes with government forces, as neighbouring Saudi Arabia accused the insurgents of mounting sniper attacks inside its territory. The conflict with the northern rebels, who complain of social, religious and economic discrimination in the southern Arabian state, has rumbled on since 2004, but intensified last year and drew in Saudi Arabia.

Yemen is also struggling against al Qaeda and southern secessionists, and Western powers fear it could become a failed state.

A senior U.S. counter-terrorism official was in Yemen on Sunday, state media reported, a week after Britain hosted a conference on how to stabilise the Arab world’s poorest country.

Yemeni soldiers clashed with rebels in the northern provinces of Malahidh and Saada, killing 20, including a leader responsible for training, state media reported on Sunday.

Police on Sunday shot and injured a man trying to set up an explosive device near an oil pipeline in an area outside the capital Sanaa, the Interior Ministry said on its website. The suspect, a local resident, managed to escape, it said. Rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said on Saturday he was prepared to accept government conditions for a truce, days after he made a ceasefire offer to Saudi Arabia and said his fighters had withdrawn from Saudi territory.

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The UK Foreign Office has released video highlights from the London Conference on Afghanistan.

The London Conference on Afghanistan took place in London at Lancaster House on January 28 2010. The London Conference on Afghanistan brought together Foreign Ministers from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) partners, Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours and key regional players as well as representatives from NATO, the United Nations, the EU and other international organisations such as the World Bank to fully align military and civilian resources behind an Afghan-led political strategy.

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