A new truce has been reached in Taiz, Yemen's second largest city which has been the scene of sporadic clashes between troops and armed tribespeople backing pro-democracy protests, officials and tribal sources said Wednesday.

The ceasefire was agreed upon on Tuesday by representative of the local authorities, tribes and youth protesters who have been camping for months in the centre of the city demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

According to the agreement, the elite Republican Guard troops in the city will return to their bases, and armed tribespeople will withdraw from the streets, allowing the deployment of police, the sources said.

Influential local tribes had deployed their armed men in Taiz in June to protect protesters from attacks by troops loyal to the embattled president, who has been in Saudi Arabia since early June for treatment after being wounded in a bomb attack on his Sanaa compound early June.  -  AFP