SANAA Yemen and Saudi Arabia will withdraw border troops next week, acting on an accord signed last year to end their border dispute and to allow Yemen access to potentially oil-rich lands, a Yemeni weekly said.

The dispute between the two countries dates back to the 1930s and repeated failures to resolve it have prevented Yemen from exploring the potential for oil in some border areas.

The state-run 26 September weekly quoted Yemeni Interior Minister Hussein Mohammad Arab as saying the two neighbors would pull back military units in central and western border areas on Wednesday.

Arab said the move was a condition of the pact signed last June to end the dispute. It had been widely believed the pact would never actually be implemented.

Arab expressed satisfaction with the work of the joint-committee, made up of representatives from the two countries, in implementing the accord.

There was no official word from Saudi Arabia on the move.

Yemeni officials have said that under the agreement the two countries' forces are to pull back 20km (13 miles) from the borders, the scene of skirmishes in the past.

Yemen said in December it was seeking to sign deals with international companies to develop oil in the area handed over by Saudi Arabia under the pact.

(Reuter)