February 22, 2007

Yemen Deploys Domestic and Foreign Terrorists as Paramilitary

A few points about that old "Shiite rebellion" going on in Yemen:

Its been going on since 2004 and started as a small domestic protest against Yemeni policy, its alliance with the US, and governmental corruption. There's about 600 fighters and an old man holed up on a mountain.

The regime is currently accusing the Houthi rebels of being tools of a foreign agenda, by which it means Libya- which as we know has previously cursed Saudi Arabia's mustache. Before that, the regime accused (2004-2006) Yemeni Jews, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iran as financing the Houthis.The Saudi's are probably the most substantial foreign influence and are of course supporting the Yemeni regime's efforts to crush the Shiite rebellion (which is occuring in Saada, North Yemen - ie, along Saudi Arabia's southern border.)

In previous years, credible reports surfaced of regime targeting of or at least disregard for civilian damages and casualties, mass arbitrary arrests and politicized trials of regime critics. (Generally the al-Qaeda get acquited; regime critics get death or long sentences.) Rural villagers are again fleeing to the mountains to avoid ariel bombardment and cross fire. In 2005, during the second Saada War, about 7000 families were internally displaced.

Currently, an assortment of terrorists has joined the battle in support of the government. (Now, come on, what does that say about the sincerity of Yemen's efforts against terrorism?)

There's the “foreign gangs that escaped Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Somalia and Iraq” (along with the exiled Iraqi Baathist generals who reside in Yemen) that Yahya al-Houthi said are currently militarily engaging the Houthis in Saada. Well, the Somalis needed something to do now that the ICU was defeated...

Also in the fray on the government side, Khalidabdul Nabi, leader of the Aden Abyan Islamic Army who last we heard, was a peaceful farmer.

YT: In related news, media sources reported that extremist groups from Aden-Abyan Army, whose number wasn’t defined, have headed to Sa’ada governorate to join military units in their war against Al-Houthi rebels. This was timed with the official military’s mobilizing address, which calls for fighting Al-Houthis.

Shoura.net quoted local sources in Abyan as saying that Salafi groups were transferred from Abyan to Sa’ada last Monday to fight with government forces.

The same sources also revealed that groups belonging to Hittat Jihadists, headed by Khalid Abdunabi – coincidentally, groups which fought the army within past years – also have joined army forces after being prompted by an inciting address against Shi’ites in Abyan’s mosques.

Sources referred to last Friday’s sermon in Zingibar’s Al-Toumisi Mosque, wherein the preacher called Shi’ite followers “disbelievers,” along with those who support Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Adopting a blasphemous address against Shi’ites, many government institutions, armed forces and security leaderships, together with the local authority in Sa’ada, last Friday called upon all citizens there – whom they described as nationalists – to fight Al-Houthis.

Additionally, the Ministry of Endowments officially announced that it has distributed more than 300 preachers throughout all Yemeni governorates, including Sa’ada, to eliminate the Houthi sedition. Their sermons focus on blaspheming the 12th Shi’ite and warn about their risks. Minister of Endowments Hamoud Obad accused unnamed Shi’ite nations and institutions of supporting Houthis, noting that Yemen is being subjected to a vast conspiracy.

Abyan’s Forum for Reconciliation and Toleration last Tuesday denounced what it called the authority’s racial and inciting address against major components of civil society.

Published via Shoura.net, the statement assured that “Abyan’s Forum rejects using force to face public demands.” It also pointed out that it denounces the authority’s address, which describes Houthis as a terrorist group.

So the regime is replacing Shiite preachers with Salafis (this has been going on for a while), using the public media to spread hate speech against Shiites in general, and the article linked above says the regime is bombing civilian areas with some disregard. Reports have uniformly indicated wounded civilians are unable to reach medical centers, but differ on who is blocking the roads. The phone lines to the region, which is sealed off militarily, have been cut by the regime as a tactical measure to disrupt rebel communications it says. Last week, the regime denied that it had deployed "fighters" in Saada.

Just a last point, Yahya al-Houthi is a member of Parliament for the ruling GPC, and the brother of rebel leader AbdulMalik al-Houthi. He has been in exile in Germany since 2005. Yahya unlike his brother appears (for the last two years that I've been watching him) to be a moderate and has been continually calling for peaceful reconciliation. The regime put an Interpol request out for his extridition to Yemen.

So when you see the ticker that says, "Yemen Battles Shiite Rebels," know that it is battling them with Salafi terrorists.