Yemen: Rivals Agree to a Truce The chairman of a Yemeni presidential committee said Monday that northern rebels and ultraconservative Salafist Islamists had agreed to a cease-fire after weeks of fighting. The official, Yahia Abu Issba, said that the Houthi rebels and the Salafists had signed a deal that called for the Salafists to leave the northern city of Damaj, the scene of one of the fiercest clashes.