Source: Reuters
SANAA, July 6 (Reuters) - A Yemeni court sentenced seven rebels from a Shi'ite Muslim sect to death on Monday after convicting them of causing deaths in clashes with army in 2008.
Hundreds of people died in the conflict and thousands fled their homes in battles between government forces and the rebels in the north, which have raged on and off since 2004.
The state security court also jailed for terms of 12-15 years another five of the rebels accused of seeking to install Shi'ite Islamic rule in the country, which borders the world's biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
In July 2008, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the battles with the rebels, known as the Houthis, had ended and that dialogue should replace fighting. The rebels belong to the Shi'ite Zaydi sect and are led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
Officials have often said the rebels want to restore a form of clerical rule prevalent in the country until the 1960s. The rebels, who want Zaydi schools and oppose the government's alliance with the United States, say they are defending their villages against government oppression.
Sunni Muslims form a majority of Yemen's 19 million population, while most of the rest are Shi'ite Zaydis.
One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen is also grappling with a violent campaign by al Qaeda militants, dwindling oil and water resources, unemployment, corruption and a growing community of Somali refugees. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Editing by Inal Ersan; Editing by Jon Boyle)
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Yemen says kills 11 rebels
03 Sep 2009 09:27:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
SANAA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Yemen said on Thursday it had killed 11 rebels in fighting in the north of the country, while the rebels posted footage on the Internet that appeared to show government troops withdrawing from one area.
Last month fresh fighting erupted between Shi'ite Zaydi Muslims in the mountainous Saad region bordering Saudi Arabia and the central government in Sanaa. Conflict first broke out in 2004.
On Wednesday, the rebels fighting in the north of the Arabian Peninsula country warned of a "long war" after the government rejected a truce offer. [ID:nLR537448]
A military spokesman said government forces had taken control of five rebel hideouts and "destroyed a number of locations where the rebels and terrorists were".
The rebels, led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, published footage on their website that showed dozens of what they said were captured government troops being escorted out of the Maran area.
Information about the conduct of the war has been hard to verify since northern provinces have been closed to media.
More than 100,000 people, many of them children, have fled their homes during the surge in fighting, a U.N. agency said last month, and aid groups have complained of poor access to the war zone. [ID:nN2184004]
The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday it had managed to distribute food aid to only 10,000 in Hajjah and Saada governorates in August compared to 95,000 people in July due to limited access.
The United Nations children's organisation UNICEF launched an appeal on Wednesday for $6.1 million to meet the needs of women and children affected by the fighting.
"Nearly half of the funding will help provide for the immediate water, sanitation and hygiene needs of the displaced population and the host communities," it said in a statement. Many are being housed in tented camps.
The rebels accuse Saudi Arabia of backing the government and the government sees an Iranian hand behind the rebels.
The government says the rebels want to restore a Shi'ite state overthrown in the 1960s and this week summoned the Iranian ambassador over Iranian media's coverage of the fighting.
The rebels say they want more autonomy, including Zaydi schools in their area. They oppose the spread of Saudi-influenced Sunni fundamentalism and accuse the government of indiscriminate bombing of villages. (Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; writing by Andrew Hammond and Tamara Walid)
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Yemen: ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid thousands as fighting continues
03 Sep 2009 08:07:32 GMT
The current armed clashes in northern Yemen have continued for almost three weeks, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating.
Thousands have fled, taking refuge with relatives or host families.
Makeshift shelters have been set up in neighbouring areas, but some people have fled as far as the capital Sana'a, more than 300 km to the south.
The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent Society have registered over 25,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the provinces of Sa'ada and Amran and staff of the two organizations are working around the clock to respond to the most urgent needs.
"The dire humanitarian situation is hitting women and children especially hard,” said Daniel Gagnon, the ICRC's acting head of sub-delegation in Sa'ada.
But ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid is making a difference.
"Some of us have already received mattresses, gas bottles and food," said a displaced woman in Wadi Khaiwan.
She and her family had to flee al-Harf city in the north of Amran province.
"This helps us get along and makes us less of a burden to our host families and neighbours, who have very little themselves." In and around Sa'ada city, over 4,200 people are living in Al-Ihsa', Sam and Al-Talh camps, which are run by the ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent.
But as Daniel Gagnon points out, "there are thousands more in Sa’ada governorate who need our help.” Over 5,500 people are staying with host families in Sa'ada city.
As the influx continues, the ICRC is looking for ways of accommodating more.
"What the people need most is clean water, food and shelter,” said Daniel Gagnon.
"With commercial traffic paralyzed because of the fighting, people find it difficult to get supplies.” The conflict makes it difficult to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid, with fighting in parts of Sa'ada and Amran provinces hampering operations.
Despite the obstacles, ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent staff continue to bring help whenever the situation allows them to move safely.
How displaced people have benefited from ICRC activities in recent days
Medical supplie
A health centre in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received basic medicines and a tent to act as a “waiting room”.
Yemen Red Crescent staff in Baqim (Sa'ada province) received ICRC support in the form of medicines for the treatment 400 patients.
The Yemen Red Crescent doctor based in Al-Azgoul received medicines.
Food and water
In Sa'ada province, 5,000 displaced people in the Al-Talh area received flour, rice and cooking oil, while more than 250 people in the Qataber area received flour.
5,500 people living with host families in Sa'ada city received flour, rice and beans.
Several dozen displaced families in Baqim and Al-Mahader (Sa'ada province) received daily water deliveries.
850 displaced people in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received drinking water.
Shelter and other essential items
Over 3,500 families who fled to Sa'ada city are receiving basic household items.
ICRC and YRCS teams have been distributing blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves, gas cylinders and other items to 2,500 people in the Wadi Khaiwan, Amran province.
Over 1,900 people from Al-Mahader, west of Sa'ada city, and more than 560 people in Sa'ada city itself received such essential household items as blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves and gas cylinders.
7,000 people registered in the Baqim area should be receiving shelter and other essential items in the next few days.
The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent are working on accommodating 3,000 people as soon as possible.
The ICRC has been working in Yemen since 1962 and in Sa'ada governorate since 2004.
Its workforce has been increasing steadily since the beginning of the year; the organization currently has 111 staff based in the country – 69 in the capital Sana'a, including 19 expatriates, and 42 in Sa'ada, including five expatriates.
For more information, please contact:
Hicham Hassan, ICRC Sana'a, tel: +967 1 213 844 or +967 712 666 536
Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 227 346 001 or +41 792 519 318
See also ICRC media contacts
This article on www.icrc.org =============================== Oct. 4, 2014 3:07 AM ET Shiite rebels are Yemen's new masters By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES AIM Hawthi Shiite rebels chant slogans at the compound of the army's First Armored Division, after they took it over, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. Heavily armed Yemeni Shiite militiamen took over the headquarters and house of a powerful army general allied to Sunni Islamists on Monday and set up checkpoints across the capital, Sanaa, after sweeping across the city as the general and his allies fled and went into hiding. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) Islamic State militants attack small Iraq town Oct. 2, 2014 3:40 PM ET Islamist-allied militias in Libya reject UN talks Sep. 30, 2014 12:07 PM ET Battle against Islamic State creates new alliances Sep. 29, 2014 4:20 PM ET Western Muslims, troubled, rally against extremism Sep. 26, 2014 2:34 PM ET Iraqi woman activist killed by Islamic State Sep. 25, 2014 3:02 PM ET SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The capital of Yemen, the Arab world's poorest and perhaps most chronically unstable nation, has new masters. Anti-American Shiite rebels man checkpoints and roam the streets in pickups mounted with anti-aircraft guns. The fighters control almost all state buildings, from the airport and the central bank to the Defense Ministry. Only a few police officers and soldiers are left on the streets. Rebel fighters have plastered the city with fliers proclaiming their slogan — "Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam" — a variation of a popular Iranian slogan often chanted by Shiite militants in Iraq and supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah. While the world has been focused on the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, Yemen at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula has seen its own sudden, seismic upheaval when Shiite rebels known as the Houthis overran Sanaa two weeks ago. Now the Houthis, who many believe are backed by Shiite-led Iran, are poised to become Yemen's version of the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon — top powerbrokers dominating the government and running a virtual state-within-a-state. Their takeover of the capital also threatens to bring a violent backlash from hard-line Sunnis, creating a sectarian battle that would boost al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, which the United States has been battling for years in a drone campaign and in coordination with the Yemeni military. The rallying cry of fighting against Shiite power could turn Yemen into a magnet for Sunni jihadis from around the region, like Syria and Iraq. Last week, an al-Qaida suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a hospital used by the Houthis in Maarib province, killing one person. The group, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, vowed to fight the rebels and called on other Sunnis to support it. "You will see your bodies scattered and your heads flying," al-Qaida said in a statement, addressing the Houthis. The U.S.-backed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, is largely helpless, struggling to form a new government to meet the Houthis' demands. Neighboring Saudi Arabia is worried over a potential pro-Iranian outpost on its border. In an interview with The Associated Press, Jamal Benomar, the U.N. special envoy who has been mediating among the government, the Houthis and other factions, warned that "this takeover of Sanaa by the Hawthis will widely reverberate in Yemen and the region." "Yemen will now be seen as linked to other situations in the region, with regional and international involvement," he said. The Houthis, who call themselves Ansar Allah, Arabic for "Supporters of God," are followers of the Zaydi faith, a branch of Shia Islam that is almost exclusively found in Yemen and makes up about 30 percent of the country's population. Zaydi religious leaders ruled much of northern Yemen for centuries — and the Houthis, backers of the Houthi family, a clan that claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad, have sought to revive Zaydi identity. The rebels, currently led by 33-year-old Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, fought a series of civil wars since the mid-2000s from their stronghold of Saada north of Sanaa. In 2011, they took complete control of Saada province. But their advances this year have been startling. They swept south, defeating Sunni tribesmen loyal to the conservative Sunni Islah party, and in July captured Amran province, which borders the capital. They then overran the capital itself on Sept. 21 as the military largely collapsed. The Houthis present themselves as seeking to achieve the goals of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that led to the overthrow of longtime autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh. They reject a Gulf-brokered deal that led to Saleh stepping down and Hadi taking his place because it largely splits power between Saleh's supporters and the Islah party, which is the Muslim Brotherhood's branch in Yemen. Instead, they say, they want a broader government that includes their movement and southern Yemenis, who have long sought independence. And they want implementation of a plan reached by political parties in January to give greater autonomy to Yemen's regions. "We are not a group isolated from the rest of the country. We are part of the social fabric," Abu Ali al-Hakam, the commander who led the Houthi assault on Sanaa, told AP. He spoke as he visited the captured headquarters of the army's 1st Armored Division, an elite outfit with close links to the Islah party. It had spearheaded army campaigns against the Houthis. "It is not just the Houthis who are controlling Sanaa now, its Yemenis from everywhere," said the diminutive al-Hakam after receiving a hero's welcome by his fighters. The Houthis were quick to tap on the widespread grievances to show themselves as a feasible alternative. "I and my family feel safer now," said Faraj al-Raeeny, a schoolteacher from mainly Zaydi Amran province. "The Houthis resolved many disputes and put right many injustices. They strictly enforce order." Still, not all Zaydis back the rebels, and the takeover is likely to only polarize a nation where the central government is chronically weak. Much of the country is out of government control, plagued by tribal divisions, al-Qaida militant violence, widespread corruption and deep poverty that breeds resentment or rebellion. The scene is further complicated by political rivalries. Hadi's supporters have long accused Saleh loyalists, who still hold key posts in the military, security forces and government, of undermining Hadi in a bid to return to power. Saleh and his loyalists in the army are widely believed to have helped the Houthis by standing aside as the fighters swept into Sanaa. Ali al-Imad, a senior Houthi official, denied there were any "understandings" struck with Saleh's camp, but he acknowledged in an interview with the AP that the two sides — bitter foes in six wars between 2004 and 2010 — shared "temporarily mutual interests." Hadi appeared caught off guard. After Amran was captured in late July, Hadi met with politicians who warned him that the Houthis would move on Sanaa next. "He said he was convinced that the Hawthis will not come near Sanaa," rights lawyer Baraa Shiban, who attended the meeting, told AP. A new, U.N.-brokered accord that was hurriedly signed on the day Sanaa fell to the Houthis calls for a new government, for all armed factions to put down their arms and for the rebels to leave the capital. But there is little sign that will happen. "This peace agreement must be implemented, otherwise the prospect of the disintegration of Yemen as we know it will become real," warned Benomar, who negotiated the accord. Many doubt the Houthis have the need or resources to grab more territory. But they have virtual veto power over who becomes the next prime minister and over the makeup of the next government. And they are locking in their forces' position in the capital — emulating the model of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which in Lebanon is the de facto government in predominantly Shiite areas of southern Beirut and in the south and east of the country. In Sanaa, the Houthis have tightened their grip on the city's northern districts where Zaydis are dominant, as well as the nearby international airport. Tanks and armored vehicles looted from army bases have now been deployed in those areas. After the fall of Sanaa, Houthis staged a massive victory rally in the city, flying Hezbollah flags and portraits of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. "It is very clear that Hezbollah is their model. They will never give up control of the airport or the northern districts," Mohammed Qahtan, a senior Islah leader, told the AP in a hotel apartment where he has lived since his Sanaa home was stormed by the rebels. Associated Press Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. =================
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