Sana'a, Yemen  - A Shiite rebel group battling the national army in northwestern Yemen late on Monday proposed a peace plan to end the fighting.

Under the plan, offered by the rebels' spokesman Muhammad Abdul- Salam, the government would first stop the military offensive against the rebels' strongholds in the province of Saada and withdraw to its positions before the beginning of the latest military operation.

He did not detail any commitments that would be made by his group, which had earlier rejected government-proposed ceasefire terms focussed on the withdrawal of rebel forces.

"We sent our initiative to the authorities, and its success depends on their response," Abdul-Salam said in a statement.

Army forces have been pounding rebel bases in Saada, on the border with Saudi Arabia, in a massive attack since August 11. The offensive included aerial, artillery and missile strikes on rebel strongholds in strategic heights overlooking the Saudi border.

Scores of insurgents, civilians and troops have been killed in the past two weeks and tens of thousands have been displaced.

No government comment on the rebels' peace offer was immediately available.

Authorities earlier set out six conditions for halting the offensive on the rebels, known as Houthis, and led by Abdul-Malik al- Houthi.

The government conditions included the withdrawal of insurgents from all districts of Saada and mountainous sites and the surrendering of military hardware seized from the army.

The government also called for the rebels to clarify the fate of a German family of five and a British engineer taken hostage in Saada in June. The six people were among a group of foreign hostages - seven Germans, a Briton and a South Korean. They were abducted by armed men in Saada, where the rebels operate.

Three of the hostages - two German women and a South Korean female teacher - were found dead two days after the abduction.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said last week the military attack would not stop before the rebels announce an "unconditional commitment" to the government's peace offer.

Authorities accuse the Shiite group of seeking to restore the rule of the Zaydi royal family, known as imams, who were toppled by a republican revolution in northern Yemen in 1962.

The Houthis say they are revolting against government corruption and its alliance with the United States.  dpa