YEMEN’S president told the United Nations on Monday that he has asked the Saudi-led coalition to begin a seven-day cease-fire on Dec. 15 to coincide with U.N.-sponsored peace talks aimed at ending months of fighting that has killed nearly 6,000 people.

    “I have notified the leadership of the Coalition of our intention to cease fire for a period of seven days, starting Dec. 15 until Dec. 21,” President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

    Hadi’s letter confirmed remarks made earlier Monday by U.N. special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who said Hadi’s Saudi-backed exiled government and the Houthis were committed to the peace process laid down by the Security Council in April.

    Forces loyal to Hadi, backed by air strikes and ground forces from a mainly Gulf Arab coalition, have been locked for nine months in a civil war with the Houthis, who rule the capital Sanaa and other cities.

    Previous U.N.-mediated negotiations to end the conflict through dialogue failed as battles rage across the country and Saudi-led warplanes bomb positions of the Houthi group and its Yemeni army allies.  (SD-Agencies)