UN envoy to Yemen trying to broker a peace deal with Houthi rebels

Aden - Ismail Ahmed, the UN envoy to Yemen, will travel to Kuwait on June 27 and then travel to Ryadh Saudi Arabia for a week's stay. Finally, he will move on to Sanaa, Yemen for another week to try and reach a preliminary peace deal to end the conflict.

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For three months, the Saudis have led an extensive bombing campaign and blockade designed to restore president-in-exile Mansour Hadi to power. Although at one time Hadi resigned he later rescinded his resignation when he fled to Aden. He tried to set up a government there but was driven out and fled to Ryadh, Saudi Arabia. He has the support of the Saudis, and the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC),as well as the U.S. Over the three months of bombing and land campaign by loyalists, more than 2,8000 people have been killed and huge numbers displaced. The campaign has created a humanitarian disaster. More than 80 percent of Yemenis or more than 21 million people are estimated by the UN to need humanitarian assistance. The Saudi blockade makes it difficult for aid agencies to deliver aid, especially to Houthi controlled areas. The chaos has helped Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula(AQAP) to extend its territory and consolidate its power often in alliance with local Sunni tribes. Added to the chaos the Islamic State has launched several attacks.

Although talks sponsored by the UN in Geneva broke up with no agreement a week ago, there was a general desire for a cease fire, hence Ahmed's travels to where he can work out issues with representatives of the two sides. UN spokesperson, Ahmad Fawzi, said of Ahmed:“He intends to spend more time in the two capitals [Riyadh and Sana’a] to discuss the draft principles paper which was developed here in Geneva — as he said, ‘until we reach a preliminary agreement."

There are already talks in Oman between the Houthis and opponents from the Southern Movement who are defending Aden and other parts of the south. Some units allied with the Houthis did withdraw from parts of Aden and journeyed north to provide reinforcements in the capital and other areas. This perhaps might have been part of an agreement. However, a storage tank in Aden was hit and set on fire by Houthi artillery fire, indicating that the battle is still ongoing in the port. The Saudis bombed numerous sites across Yemen on Friday. At least 10 people were killed in an air raid in Jawf a northern province bordering Saudi Arabia. The capital Sanaa was also bombed. Hadi's foreign minister said that his government had no interest in organizing a new meeting in Geneva. He simply wants to implement the UN resolution that demands the Houthis withdraw from all the areas that they have occupied and lay down their arms. Many other parties who support Hadi may hope for at least a ceasefire and then further negotiations.

Yemen Rebels Still Active

This conflict is under-reported in the west. There are no US or other western casualties usually so it is not news I guess. The conflict shows that many areas are facing insurgents wishing to install Islamist oriented states in the region on the model of Iran.


Sana'a - At least 35 government troops and 50 Shiite rebel fighters have been killed in fighting in the restive province of Saada in northern Yemen over the past week, a government official said on Monday. Local sources in Saada however put the number of fatalities among troops at around 150 and the rebels at about 400.

Scores of other soldiers and rebels loyal to local Shiite leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi were wounded in continued battles in Saada, which borders Saudi Arabia, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said the fighting was taking place mainly in the Dhahian town north of the provincial city of Saada, some 240 kilometres from the capital Sana'a.

"What is going on now is guerrilla fight from house to house," the official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Saada has been the scene of fierce battles between the army and rebel fighters acting under the umbrella of the underground Believing Youth movement late last December after authorities accused rebels of attacking military and police posts in the province.

Authorities have accused the rebels of trying to topple the republican regime and establish an Islamic state, saying that "foreign parties" have been supporting them.

The Believing Youth group was first established by Shiite cleric Hussein Badruddin al-Houthi in mid-2004. Hussein was killed in clashes with the army in September 2004.

Bloody confrontations between the rebels and the army have since left more than 720 government troops dead, according to the official toll. Hundreds of rebels have also been killed.

Yemeni media reports recently quoted government officials accusing Iran and Libya of financing the rebels. Both states have denied the charge.

Copyright © 2007 Respective Author

Yemen: Govt. Troops killed in Shiite rebellion

A glimpse into conflicts that are off radar in mainstream press.

Forty-two Yemeni army and police troops have been killed and 81 injured since clashes renewed with Shiite rebel fighters in the country's northern province of Saada, a senior security official said on Monday.

Head of the National Security Agency, Ali Muhammad al-Anessi, told the Shura Council, the upper chamber of parliament, the deaths resulted from attacks by followers of Shiite rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on military posts in Saada, which borders Saudi Arabia.

Houthi and scores of his backers had been engaged in a standoff with army forces in the province, some 230 kilometres north of the Yemeni capital Sana'a, since armed confrontations between the two sides renewed on December 27.

Anessi, who is also the secretary of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the military deaths included officers, but he did not give a breakdown.

The Yemeni official said the rebels had purchased a "huge quantity of light, medium and heavy weapons."

He added that they had built fortified locations in remote areas of Saada in preparation for a battle with the army.

Central authorities in Sana'a last week sent hundreds of troops backed by tanks and artillery to Saada to launch a major onslaught on the rebels if the rebels do not surrender.

President Saleh has reportedly postponed the major attack after tribal and religious figures intervened and called for a peaceful settlement.

Last week, Saleh warned the rebels they could face a military campaign if they do not lay down their arms.

Officials have accused Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, a son of prominent Shiite cleric Badruddin al-Houthi, of leading remnants of the outlawed Believing Youth group, which was established by his elder brother Hussein al-Houthi in 2004.

Well-armed Houthis have repeatedly been involved in bloody confrontations with government forces in Saada since their slain leader Hussein declared a rebellion early in 2004.

Government forces engaged in fierce battles in April 2006 with armed followers of the hardline group that officials said was inciting violence against the United States and Israel.

In May 2006, President Saleh announced a general amnesty for the Houthis after government forces crushed their rebellion, first initiated by the group's founder Hussein al-Houthi, and captured their mountain strongholds in Saada.

Hussein al-Houthi was killed by the army in September 2004.

Some 525 troops and hundreds of rebels were killed in fighting in 2006 that followed the first three-month revolt that left more than 400 insurgents and troops dead.

Anessi, the national security chief, told MPs the two previous waves of fighting with Houthis in 2004 and 2006 left 727 government troops killed and 5,296 injured.

© 2007 DPA