Yemen's Prime Minister Khaled Bahah on Tuesday called on Shia Houthi rebels to lay down their weapons, as a ceasefire in his war-wracked country came into force.

"We need to restore the country," Bahah said in the Qatari capital Doha.

"We need the Houthis to surrender their weapons and arms and leave the government institutions to restore legitimacy."

Bahah was delivering a speech at Qatar University coinciding with the start of a seven-day ceasefire as UN-brokered peace talks opened in Switzerland.

In October, Bahah escaped unharmed after a deadly rocket attack on a hotel in Yemen's main southern city of Aden.

Qatar forms part of a Saudi-led coalition which launched an air campaign against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in March.