Sana’a: Yemen’s main Islamist party says its top leaders have met with the powerful Al Houthi rebels who have been battling it for months and control the capital, in a rare meeting that might help ease the country’s political deadlock.
The Islah party says in a statement Friday that a delegation met with Abdul Malek Al Houthi, the leader of Al Houthis, on Thursday. The statement says the meeting was aimed at easing tensions between the rival groups.
Al Houthis captured the capital in September after sweeping down from their northern stronghold and routing fighters loyal to the Islah party and its tribal allies. Opponents of Al Houthis view them as a proxy of Iran determined to take over the country, charges the rebels deny. On Wednesday, Al Houthi rebels attacked and occupied the seat of power of an influential tribe in the capital, following clashes that killed six of the guards and one fighter, security officials and rebel media said.
The rebels blamed the guards of Al Ahmar tribe for the clashes. Al Masira TV station, allied with Al Houthis, said the tribal fighters attacked a checkpoint erected by the rebels, setting off the clashes in the northern Sana’a district of Hassaba.
Residents said the clashes shook the neighbourhood before daybreak.
The attack was the latest move by the empowered Al Houthis to establish their control of Sana’a. Al Houthis, supported by the ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, seized control of Sana’a in September and have since engaged in battles in different parts of Yemen with both rival tribes and Al Qaida militants. The rebels are demanding a bigger share in power.
The tribe, traditional power brokers in Yemen, is allied with the Islamist Islah party against the rebels, locking the two sides into a bloody power struggle that has deepened the country’s turmoil.
