Saudi-offered, rebel-rejected cease-fire starts in Yemen war

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi-led coalition battling rebels who hold Yemen’s capital have begun a unilateral cease-fire in the yearslong war, even as the insurgents said they rejected the proposal. The Saudi-proposed pause in fighting began at 6 a.m. Wednesday ahead of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Several similar efforts have failed, and there was no immediate independent confirmation on whether hostilities paused between Saudi-led forces and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The Iran-backed rebels are skipping an ongoing summit over the war in Saudi Arabia, called by the Saudi-based Gulf Cooperation Council, because it’s taking place on their adversary’s territory.