US risks being sucked into Yemen civil war

[me]

US risks being sucked into Yemen civil war

 

By Richard Spencer in Dubai

Published: 6:00AM BST 10 Sep 2009

 

Tens of thousands of refugees are fleeing a vicious civil war that threatens to turn the key Arab peninsula state of Yemen into a terrorist stronghold and to suck the US into another sensitive conflict zone.

 

 

The Yemeni government is to try to subdue a rebel Shia army in the north of the country. But its assault is meeting fierce resistance, with the Yemeni air force staging desperate forays to pound the rebels into submission.

 

International observers fear that even if the US, a long-term ally, can stay aloof, the conflict might be subsumed in a regional war by proxy.

 

Saudi Arabia helps to finance the government, partly out of fear of its own Shia minority and terrorist elements. The government accuses Iran, which is ruled by a Shia theocracy, of backing the rebels with money and arms, though it has produced no hard evidence.

 

The government launched a full-scale assault on the rebel stronghold in Saada province last month. Since then, 25,000 refugees have registered with the United Nations refugee agency, but diplomats say as many as 100,000 people may have been displaced by the fighting.

 

Whole villages are on the move, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), with thousands of people caught in a pocket between the fighting and the Saudi border.

 

About 35,000 have fled to Saada city, only to find themselves taking refuge in houses under constant shell fire.

 

"The situation is getting worse and worse and worse," said Gian Carlo Cirri, country director for the WFP. "We're not confronted with a humanitarian crisis, it's becoming a humanitarian tragedy."

 

One analyst warned that the United States might be forced to intervene as the security situation worsened to prevent Yemen becoming a "failed state".

 

The country has been used as an al-Qaeda base before, and its strategic location between the oil supply routes of the Gulf and the piracy haven of Somalia means its stability is regarded as a key western interest.

 

"It's very difficult," said Joost Hiltermann, of the International Crisis Group. "You might well see American advisers, maybe even some special troops, go in for special operations."

 

President Barack Obama sent a letter this week to President Ali Abdullah Saleh pledging to "stand beside Yemen, its unity, security and stability".

 

"The security of Yemen is vital for the security of the United States," he said.

 

Previously, the US had urged a return to the negotiating table.

 

Any American intervention would risk opening a new front in its hostile relationship with Iran, whose rise to power is increasingly feared by Gulf Arab countries, several of which also have Shia minorities.

 

The rebellion started as a minor conflict with a local tribe, the al-Houthis. But after its leader was killed in 2004, the insurrection, rather than disappearing, began to spread.

 

The al-Houthis are followers of a moderate Shia sect known as Zaidi, and their followers are now calling for the return of the so-called Zaidi caliphate which ran Yemen until 1962.

 

A ceasefire broke down earlier this year, leaving the government facing a double conflict against the Houthis in the north and al-Qaeda groupings throughout the country.

 

The Houthis were also accused of a string of kidnaps, including of a British engineer who is still being held.

 

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world, and since reunification of its northern and southern halves in the nineties it has been mired in both tribal and sectarian strife.

 

The civil war in the north is also seen as distracting the government from political and economic reforms needed to lift it out of poverty.

 

Diplomats say there is little evidence of active Saudi and Iranian involvement in the fighting itself. One described a claim that Saudi aircraft had joined in the bombardment of Saada as "far-fetched".

 

But the diplomat added: "There's a long-term sense that Saudi Arabia and Iran play out their longer term rivalry in Yemen.

 

"Speculation about international intervention also takes away from the humanitarian issue, which is the most worrying aspect of the war."

[me]

Yemen air force accused of killing scores of war refugees

 

Yemen's air force was accused today of killing at least 85 civilian refugees in an escalation of an offensive against Shia rebels who are challenging the government of the Arab world's poorest country.

 

Reports from Sa'ada region, which has beenthe scene of heavy fighting between government forces and rebels, said most of those killed in Wednesday's attack were women and children. News agencies quoted locals as saying as many as 87 bodies were buried afterwards.

 

News of the killings followed repeated warnings from international aid agencies that a month of fighting has created a serious humanitarian crisis, with more than 100,000 displaced Yemenis living in camps in mountainous terrain with freezing nighttime temperatures.

 

Aid workers and tribal sources reported seeing body parts and pools of blood where hundreds of people had taken shelter in a makeshift camp. "The bloodthirsty authorities have committed a new massacre," said a rebel statement.

 

The independent website News Yemen reported: "An air raid hit them in the area when they were sleeping under trees and plastic awnings." It said the air force later attacked the camp again.

 

President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government has accused Iranian figures, though not the Tehran government, of backing the Houthi rebels. The insurgents dismiss these charges as propaganda aimed at securing western support for a war that has waged intermittently for five years and which is mainly about local issues, such as under-development and the lack of resources, exacerbated by sectarian tensions.

 

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia openly backs Saleh, one of the Arab world's longest-serving leaders. The Saudis, US and other western countries fear that a lawless state is becoming a haven for al-Qaida fighters fleeing Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

Saleh also faces a secessionist movement in the south of the country, the former South Yemen until reunification in 1990.

 

Other elements of Yemen's chronic crisis are dwindling oil reserves, one of the world's worst water shortages, massive use of the narcotic plant qat and a rapidly growing population of 23 million that is putting a huge strain on all resources.

 

The Yemeni army, which launched its offensive against the rebels in mid-August, said it delivered "heavy blows" in the past few hours, and accused the Houthis of using civilians as human shields. Air raids by MIG fighters and artillery bombardments have become normal events in recent days.

 

Earlier this week Human Rights Watch urged the government to "promptly and impartially investigate responsibility for any attacks on civilians".

 

The government claims the rebels want to restore a Shia "imamate", or state, that fell in the 1960s. Sectarian strife has worsened in recent years partly as a response to the growing influence in Yemen of government-backed extremist Salafi Muslims, Sunni fundamentalists who are inspired and backed by Saudi Arabia, and who consider Shia to be heretics.

 

source

[Peacenow]

I just checked the Wiki page on Yemen.

http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Yemen

It's just as much of a toilet hole as our country. 23 million of them living on just $1181. We both dwell on the scrap heap and it's kinda comforting that we are not the only one in it.

[me]

Yemen suffers turmoil on multiple fronts

 

By The Associated Press (AP)

 

Yemen is beset by wars, unrest and piracy. Here are the main troubles it faces:

 

___

 

NORTHERN REBELLION: Government troops and Shiite rebels have been fighting on and off since 2004. The root cause is a sense of being neglected by the government. Yemeni officials claim Iran is abetting the uprising, and neighboring Saudi Arabia shares that concern. The U.S. is skeptical.

 

___

 

_ SOUTHERN SECESSIONISTS: During the Cold War Yemen was divided in two, and the south allied with the Soviet Union. Southerners complain they have been marginalized since unification in 1990, and protests there have raised fears a separatist movement is coming into being. Most of Yemen's oil is in the south.

 

___

 

_ AL-QAIDA: Al-Qaida militants, including fighters returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, have established sanctuaries among a number of Yemeni tribes, particularly in three provinces bordering Saudi Arabia. In January, militants announced the creation of "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," a merger of the network's Yemeni and Saudi branches. The U.S. wants Yemen to focus on al-Qaida rather than on the rebellions.

 

_ PIRATES: Yemen is feels the impact of piracy from Somalia, across the Gulf of Aden. Its navy has clashed with Somali pirates and foiled several attacks on Yemeni vessels.

 

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[me]

Peacenow:

 

1. You have no monopoly on Arab bashing so take it easy there.

 

2. Look at the bigger picture, if we look at the greater Horn of Africa Region there is not one country that is stable, most of them are actually in a war. There is something seriously wrong.

 

[me]

Baseless propaganda of a defeated regime???

 

 

Yemen Post Staff

 

Seven Somali people have been arrested while fighting the army in support for the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, the Alsahwa website reported on Monday.

 

The source close to the army said the Somalis were caught in the Almagza'a area in Harf Sufyan, Amran, among 20 Houthi followers.

 

In this regard, a news paper cited military sources as saying there were Somalis fighting the troops in support for the insurgents in the provinces of Saada and Amran along with experts teaching the insurgents guerrilla wars.

 

The Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper said the arrested were handed to the Intelligence Service which started investigating them.

 

The sources expected the arrested had links to the Jihad groups in Somalia supported by Iran and Eritrea, adding the arrests may reveal more facts about the flow of Somali refugees to Yemen.

 

 

Yemen Post Staff

 

Source

[me]

36 Al Houthi rebels killed in Sa'ada city: report

 

By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent

Published: September 28, 2009, 11:47

 

Sana’a: At least 36 Al Houthi rebels were killed in fierce battles in the areas around the city of Sa’ada, military officials said Monday.

 

In an official statement disseminated by the State-run TV, the Ministry of Defence said 17 rebels were killed in Al Okab and Al Makash in repeated and suicide attacks implemented by the rebels on Al Sama’a Mountain which overlooks the city of Sa’ada.

 

A group of 13 rebels were killed in the area of Al Kharab where tribesmen and the army fought against the rebels. And six rebels were killed in Al Madwar and Al Kaham area.

 

Military sources said Monday that 20 Al Houthi rebels including 7 Somalis, who were fighting with Al Houthi, were arrested in Al Majza’ah in the main frontline of Harf Sufyan. More than 50,000 Somalis immigrants flowed to Yemen from the beginning of this year, according to UNHCR estimations.

 

Three rebels were arrested in the old town of Sa’ada after they clashed with the security men. One rebel was identified as Tawfik Mohammed Taninah, security sources said. Some areas of the old city witnessed sporadic clashes with rebels who live there as original residents. About 100 rebels were arrested from the beginning of this war in the city of Sa’ada which is under the control of army and local authority.

 

Field military sources confirmed Monday that fierce battles are also unfolding in the other two main frontlines of Harf Sufyan and Al Malahaid where the army is making slow but steady progress due to strong resistance from rebels.

 

The sounds of the Mig-29 fighters could be heard almost all day and night of Sunday over the capital Sana’a from where they take off to strike the rebels in fighting areas.

 

Rebel leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi, appealed to the international community to help protect civilians in the volatile areas in Sa’ada.

 

In a short video statement aired by Al Jazeera Satellite, Al Houthi, who directly spoke for the first time since the beginning of this war in August11, said the displaced people did not receive any assistance or protection.

 

The government dismissed his statement and said he was pretending to be a victim.

 

“The criminal Al Houthi should realize there is no option but to accept the five conditions of the government for stopping the war. They will be brought to justice sooner or later and the fate of the criminal Abdul Malik Al Houthi will not be better than the fate his slain brother Hussein,” said an official statement commenting on Al Houthi’s video.

 

Source

[me]

YEMEN - At least 36 Al Houthi rebels were killed in fierce battles in the areas around the city of Sa'adah, military officials said Monday.

 

In an official statement disseminated by the Sate-run TV, the Ministry of Defense said 17 rebels were killed in al-Okab and al-Makash in repeated and suicide attacks implemented by the rebels on al-Sama'a Mountain, which overlooks the city of Sa'adah.

 

A group of 13 rebels were killed in the area of al-Kharab where tribesmen and the army fought against the rebels. And six rebels were killed in al-Madwar and al-Kaham area.

 

Three rebels were arrested in the old town of Sa'adah after they clashed with the security men. One of them was called Tawfik Mohammed Taninah, security sources said. Some zones of the old city witnessed sporadic clashes with rebels who live there as original residents. About 100 rebels were arrested from the beginning of this war in the city of Sa'adah which is under the control of army and local authority.

 

Field military sources confirmed Monday that fierce battles are also going on the other two main frontlines of Harf Sufyan and al-Malahaid where the army is making slowly but surly progress because of the strong resistance of the rebels.

 

The sounds of the Mig-29 fighters could be heard almost all day and night of Sunday over the capital Sana'a from where they take off to strike the rebels in fighting areas.

 

On his part, the rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi appealed to the international community to interfere for protecting the civilians in the volatile areas in Sa'adah.

 

In a short video statement aired by al-Jazeera Satellite, al-Houthi, who directly spoke for the first time since the beginning of this war in August11, said the displaced people did not receive any assistance or protection.

 

The government said he is only shedding the crocodile tears and he is a criminal introducing himself as a victim.

 

"The criminal Al Houthi should realize there is no way before him but to accept the five conditions of the government for stopping the war. And they will be brought to justice sooner or later and the fate of the criminal Abdul Malik al-Houthi will not be better than the fate his slain brother Hussein," said an official statement commenting on al-Houthi's video.

 

Military sources said Monday that 20 al-Houthi rebels including 7 Somalis, who were fighting with al-Houthi, were arrested in Al Majza'ah in the main frontline of Harf Sufyan. More than 50,000 Somalis immigrants flowed to Yemen from the beginning of this year, according to UNHCR estimations.

 

Source

[Kamaavi]

Somalida dagaalka ku jirta kuwo la qasbay miyaa tolow ,,,

[me]

I wonder that too, I am not familiar with the situation in Yemen. The news that is coming out is a bit sketchy at the moment. What do the Arabic speakers say about this situation?

 

Are these reports reliable?

[Kamaavi]

Nin wadankiisii dagaal ooga soo cararay dagaal wadan shisheeye ka socda ha galo waa ta iga daadegi la

 

Bal aan dhowrno hadduu jiro qof arintan u kuur galay ,,,,