Sana’a: Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a law professor who has been representing Shiite Al Houthi rebels at Yemen’s thorny reconciliation talks, a security official said.
Ahmad Sharaf Al Deen, a leading figure in the rebel group, was gunned down as he drove from his house in the capital Sana’a to the hotel where the talks are being held, the official said.
He was attacked at the Saba roundabout, in central Sana’a, and died instantly, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Sharaf Al Deen is the second representative of the Al Houthis to the talks to be killed, after gunmen shot dead MP Abdul Karim Jadban in a similar attack in November.
The killing comes as fighting between Al Houthis and powerful tribes resumed in Amran province after a series of ceasefires brokered by the government had halted months of battles in several northern areas.
The rebels, whose stronghold is the northern province of Saada, accuse the tribes of backing hardline Sunni Salafists fighting the Al Houthis in the enclave of Dammaj.
The town in Sa’ada province has been besieged by the rebels for months.
Al Houthi rebels have been battling the Sana’a government for nearly a decade in Saada, but the clashes with Sunni militants have deepened the sectarian dimension of the unrest.
Fighting that erupted in late October has centred on a Salafist mosque and Quranic school in Dammaj.
The conflict has spread in the northern provinces, embroiling Sunni tribes wary of the power of Al Houthis, who have repeatedly been accused of receiving support from Iran.
Yemen’s national dialogue is part of a transition backed by the United Nations and the Gulf countries which saw President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after 33 years in power following massive Arab Spring-inspired protests in the region’s poorest country.
It aims to draft a new constitution and prepare for general and presidential elections to replace interim president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
