violent clashes that killed hundreds in the north of the country.

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

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the group's leader, said: "To prevent bloodshed, we declare a stop to violence and fighting and our commitment to the republican system and the constitution."

The fighters oppose Yemen's alliance with the US and the government says it wants to impose religious laws.


Qatari mediation

Yemeni officials said a Qatari delegation had mediated between the group and the government.

The present conflict began in 2004 when Hussain Badr al-din al-Houthi led an armed uprising against the 'secular' government of Abdullah Saleh.

His fighters - followers of the Zaidi offshoot of Shia Islam that is unique to Yemen - hope to reinstall the Shia imamate that ruled the country for hundreds of years before being overthrown in 1962.

Saada, the focus of the revolt and the scene of much of the recent fighting, has traditionally been the centre of Zaidism, which is followed by around 20 per cent of Yemen's population.

Sunni Muslims are a majority of Yemen's 19 million population, while many of the rest are Zaidi Shias.

'Neglected' region

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes in the the latest bout of conflict.

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

The fighters 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 Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda's head, has supported the US-led "war on terror".

PHOTO CAPTION

Hussain Badr al-din al-Houthi