Yemen cuts fuel prices under deal between Houthis, state

The Yemeni government has reduced fuel prices by around 15 percent following a deal with the Ansarullah revolutionaries.

The country’s state oil company made the announcement on Wednesday, cutting back a price rise introduced back in July that triggered nationwide protests.

The company said the price of petrol and diesel was cut to 150 riyals ($0.69) per liter, down from 175 riyals earlier.

This is the second time Sana’a is reducing fuel prices in the poorest country of Arab world.

On Sunday, Yemeni government and Ansarullah fighters reached a peace deal that called for an immediate ceasefire and the formation of a technocratic government.

Ansarullah activists, also known as Houthis, have also been staging demonstrations in the capital for more than a month, demanding the formation of a new government.

They say the government is corrupt and marginalizes the country’s Shia community.

Yemen’s Shia Houthi movement draws its name from the tribe of its founding leader Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi.

The Houthi movement played a key role in the popular revolution that forced former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, stepped down in February 2012 under a US-backed power transfer deal in return for immunity, after a year of mass street demonstrations demanding his ouster.

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