SANAA/ADEN: The Yemeni government and a dissident general signed a ceasefire on Tuesday, hours after five civilians including a child were killed in crossfire between state troops and opposition fighters in the city of Taiz, witnesses said.

A government official said the deal between President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government and breakaway General Ali Mohsen was mediated by a local committee chaired by the vice president and would take effect at 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) on Tuesday.

Several previous truce accords have failed to hold. A political standoff between Saleh and a motley coalition of protesters escalated last month into bloody confrontations between government troops and dissident soldiers and tribesman.

The latest agreement comes four days after a United Nations Security Council resolution condemned the violence in Yemen and urged Saleh to sign an initiative brokered by Gulf neighbours that would see him leave office after 32 years.

More than a dozen people have been killed since then.

Earlier on Tuesday, security forces opened fire on a protest march in the capital Sanaa, killing two people, witnesses said.

Both sides also agreed to release all people kidnapped during months of anti-government protests that have pushed the Arabian Peninsula country to the brink of civil war, which analysts say would strengthen regional al Qaeda militants.

Saleh on Monday welcomed the Security Council resolution. He has thrice backed out of signing the Gulf initiative and says he will only transfer power into "safe hands."

Further south, a Yemeni military plane crash-landed at an air base, killing nine passengers, including eight Syrian engineers, according to doctors and army officials.

A Yemeni engineer also died when the Russian-made Antonov plane crashed at the base in the southern province of Lahej. A local security official said a technical fault was probably to blame and the incident would be investigated.

Lahej shares a border with Abyan province, where the Yemeni army is fighting to regain control of territory seized by suspected al Qaeda militants, who have exploited political upheaval and weakened central government control over parts of the country.

Late on Monday, an Uzbek doctor was abducted in the northern province and tribal stronghold of Maarib. A tribal source said the doctor had been kidnapped by tribesmen to put pressure on the government to release some jailed comrades.