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YEMEN: Rebel leader warns of more conflict in Saada

10 Feb 2008 14:14:34 GMT
Source: IRIN

Background

• Yemen clashes

SANAA, 10 February 2008 (IRIN) - The leader of a Shia rebel group in Yemen that is fighting government forces in the north of the country has said that the massing of government troops in western areas of Saada Province reflects the bad faith of the authorities and will lead to an escalation in the conflict.

In an exclusive interview with IRIN on 9 February, rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi accused the government of having not implemented any part of a recent peace agreement and of launching attacks that were greatly affecting the local population.

"Thousands of displaced people have not returned to their homes, and the humanitarian situation remains very dire," al-Houthi said.

Tension between government forces and al-Houthi followers has persisted since 1 February when the two sides signed a Qatari-brokered deal following fierce clashes in the region earlier this year. A previous Qatari-brokered agreement was signed in June 2007 but was short-lived. The aim of the recent agreement was to implement the points outlined in the first, though al-Houthi said it had been agreed not to disclose the full contents of the new deal.

Peace deal points

According to al-Houthi, the most significant points in the first peace agreement were the release of detainees charged with supporting him, the withdrawal of government soldiers from citizens' houses and farms, and the payment of compensation money to them.

"Over 400 people have been detained by the government since clashes first started in 2004," he said, adding that the government had not even started reconstructing war-affected areas. "Implementing the peace agreement requires political will."

Abdul-Malik is the brother of Hussein al-Houthi, who first led the rebellion in 2004 and was killed in the same year by government forces.

When contacted by IRIN, Yemeni government officials refused to comment on the ongoing crisis in Saada Province. The Yemeni government rarely, if ever, comments on this sensitive issue or even on ceasefire agreements.

According to al-Houthi supporters and local residents, the army has blockaded areas of Haidan District, in west Saada, for the past 13 months, preventing families from leaving their homes and causing the deaths of a number of civilians.

In response, al-Houthi said his men had blockaded a military battalion that has occupied three areas of Haidan since renewed clashed began at the start of 2008.

"We have allowed food supplies to reach that battalion. A corridor is open to them but they just have to evacuate people's houses and farms and leave the area," al-Houthi said.

New Presidential committee

On 5 February, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered the formation of a new 13-member presidential mediation committee to seek a solution to the ongoing conflict. A similar committee was formed following the first Qatari peace agreement but then abandoned in August 2007, according to MP Aydarous al-Naqeeb, who was a member of that committee and expressed little confidence in the new one.

"The new committee was formed without notification. Our committee succeeded in bringing about a ceasefire for six months and also in convincing al-Houthi supporters to withdraw from over 20 sites," he said.

maj/ar/ed

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