Gulf | Yemen
Troops surround Yemen rebel strongholds in north
Government troops are surrounding the last strongholds of Al Houthi rebels in Al Naqa'a and Mutrah, Sa'ada, north of Yemen, senior security sources said on Tuesday.
- By Nasser Arrabye, Correspondent
- Published: 23:53 June 17, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- About 15 people were killed and dozens wounded in a recent bombing in volatile Sa’ada that officials blamed on followers of rebel leader Abdul Malek Al Houthi.
Sana'a: Government troops are surrounding the last strongholds of Al Houthi rebels in Al Naqa'a and Mutrah, Sa'ada, north of Yemen, senior security sources said on Tuesday.
"The military and security operations are about to finish," said a statement released by the country's supreme security committee.
Yemen's official media quoted witnesses as saying that last Sunday Al Houthi rebels killed an eight-year-old boy in Haidan to take revenge on his father who had joined the government troops. The boy's mother was injured as she tried to protect her child, the witnesses said.
Security officials said that Zakaria Dhaif Allah Al Mukhtar, the boy's father was the bodyguard of slain rebel leader, Hussain Badr Al Deen Al Houthi, who was killed three months after the armed rebellion erupted in June, 2004.
Such a cold-blooded murder is an indication of the breakdown of the rebels, security officials said.
Disaster
Meanwhile, the leader of the rebels, Abdul Malek Al Houthi, called to resume talks with the government saying he will not impose any further conditions if Qatari-sponsored talks resume now.
He also said, in a statement sent from his stronghold in Al Naqa'a to the local press, he will accept any efforts to stop the war and save blood, from any internal tribal or political leaders.
However, he threatened to classify Saudi Arabi "as the enemy" if it "did not stop its aggression." "We are ready to sit and talk with Saudi Arabia and discuss its concerns," he said.
Observers say such statements are an indication of the progress of the government troops towards the last strongholds and that Al Houthi wants to reach a truce to reorganise.
"It would be a disaster for us all, if they stopped us for talks with those rebels," a field military officer told Gulf News.
"This was how Al Houthis built themselves, we were about to finish the battles in the previous wars like now, when we received orders from superiors to stop for talks," he said.
A bedridden Zaidi former teacher in his 60s, said religious fatwas against Zaidis, conflict of interest and Saudi Arabia, were the main reason behind the war in Sa'ada in a note he sent to NewsYemen, a widely-read independent website.
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