Yemeni government rejects rebels' truce offer

The Yemeni government rejected a truce offer by Shiite rebels in the north of the Arabian Peninsula country late on Monday, after accusing Iranian media of stoking the conflict.

"We announce an initiative to stop the war so that roads are opened, the presence of armed mobilization ends and the situation returns to how it was before," a statement issued by rebel leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi's media office said.

The government rejected the offer, which follows a government ceasefire offered last month for ending the conflict that has displaced more than 100,000 villagers.

"Maneuvering initiative"

Spokesman for the ruling party Tarek al-Shami called the initiative "maneuvering and a media stunt" by the rebels and would not be considered by the Yemeni government as a "serious initiative to end the war."

He added that the government insisted that the rebels stop their attacks, hand over weapons they seized from the army and relinquish control of their mountain strongholds.

Saudi Arabia has been watching the uprising, concerned that the violence could spread to its territory. The Saudi security forces late Monday foiled an attempt of smuggling a quantity of explosives and weapons from Yemen into the Saudi region of Jazan, the Saudi newspaper of al-Watan reported.

Experts said the rebel initiative was aimed at gaining support, especially among the people displaced by the conflict. At least 120,000 people have fled their homes in the latest fighting, which erupted in mid-August.

Details of the fighting are unclear, because the government has cut off access to the area, but unconfirmed reports indicate government forces have been confined to their bases in recent days. Rebels claimed they overran some government positions. The government denied the reports.

Fighting has also spread to the Amran province, near the capital, Sanaa.

Iran, al-Qaeda

Yemen meanwhile blamed the Iranian media for bias in its reporting of the government battle against al-Houthi rebels and warned that Iran may suffer negative diplomatic consequences if it continued to skew its reporting on battles with Shiite rebels, the foreign minister of Yemen said on Monday.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said he summoned the Iranian envoy, warning him Yemen may make "serious diplomatic decisions" over bilateral ties, the official Saba news agency reported.

Al-Houthi supporters during recent court testimony, meanwhile, confessed to using Iranian-made weapons while others claimed they were inspired by tactics used by militias during the Islamic Revolution.

The escalation has raised fears that the increased lawlessness could provide cover for al-Qaeda militants, who have sought sanctuary in the impoverished nation on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula.

Yemen has allied with the U.S. in its fight against terrorism, but the government has little authority in the mountainous areas outside the major cities. The country, which is the ancestral birthplace of Osama bin Laden, is also facing a growing separatist movement in the south.

The government raised allegations that al-Qaeda was trying to establish a relationship with al-Houthi rebels, who are blamed for attempting to create an Islamic caliphate in the region.