Yemen's government is prepared to fight Shiite rebels in the mountainous north for "years", the president vowed on Saturday. "We will continue the battle for five or six years. We will not backtrack, we will not stop," Ali Abdullah Saleh said.
"If the rebels abided by the six points (of the truce), we do not want war. It is a war that was imposed on us," he said, according to AFP. Saleh called on political groups in Yemen to stand united to "support the army in its war against the rebels."
On Friday, Saleh renewed calls for the rebels to come back to the "right" path. He urged them to learn from the past lessons, saying Yemen, despite its problems, is able to keep its unity and defend accomplishments.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
