November 04, 2009
Yemen Rebels Invade Saudi Arabia and other developments
First up, the Houthi rebels have crossed the border and taken a Saudi military outpost that the rebels claimed was aiding the Yemeni army in the Sa'ada War. They have claimed (with photo documentation) the Yemeni military is using Saudi bombs, also that Saudi airplanes are bombing in Yemen and Saudi forces were firing across the border earlier in the week. This support is augmented by the millions and millions of dollars that Saudi Arabia is giving Yemen to fund the war. The Yemeni government accuses the Iranian religious establishment of supporting the rebels. The war which began rooted in domestic grievances is impacted by regional influences.
Second, three security chiefs were killed in an assassination, that may be an al Qaeda plot, drug related or tribal. Meanwhile Yemen says it is aware of the location of all the al Qaeda and is containing them.
Thirdly, a Yemeni American journalist was banned from writing in Yemen for life and sentenced to two years in jail. The journalist, Munier Mawari is here in the US, but the Yemeni editor, Samir Jubran, who published the article was also banned from work and his paper in Yemen, al Masdar, shut down. Mohammed al Maqaleh is still disappeared. He is the Yemeni journalist kidnapped by Yemeni security forces late in September after exposing the military bombing raid on some refugees. That bombing was followed by an airstrike on a hospital and others on civilian targets, recently killing 31.
By Jane at November 4, 2009 01:08 PM | | l digg this
