Clashes Between Rival Factions Continue in Yemeni Capital
Sun Sep 21, 2014 3:53AM GMT
presstv.ir
Fierce fighting continues between the Ansarullah fighters of the Shia Houthi movement and members of the Salafist Islah party despite a curfew imposed by Yemen’s top security body in the restive areas of the capital, Sana’a.
Clashes are underway in several parts of the city, including in Sana’a University. Several explosions were also heard in the northern parts of the conflict-plagued city.
On Saturday, the Supreme Security Commission declared the curfew in the north and west of Sana’a.
Meanwhile, the UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar says an agreement has been reached between the warring sides to resolve the crisis.
He said the deal is based on the outcomes of the National Dialog Conference and that preparations are underway to sign the agreement.
Fighting has been raging on between Ansarullah fighters and loyalists to Salafist Islah party in Sana’a since Thursday.
The Salafists are backed by some army units, which are under the control of Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the stepbrother of the country’s deposed dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Yemeni capital has been the scene of protests by Ansarullah members for weeks; they have been demanding the establishment of a new government and the reinstatement of fuel subsidies. The protesters say the government is corrupt and marginalizes the country’s Shia community.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently called on Yemeni authorities to probe the use of force against anti-government protesters in Sana’a and other cities.
The Houthi movement played a key role in the popular revolution that forced former dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down in February 2012.
Fighting rages in Yemeni capital as deal with Shia Houthi rebels stalls
Sana'a in fourth day of violence, as Houthi fighters and government claim peace talks stall because of the other's intransigence
Peter Salisbury in Sana'a
The Guardian, Sunday 21 September 2014 07.32 EDT
Fighting has intensified in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, in the biggest challenge to the country's transition to democracy since former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted in 2012.
As violence raged for a fourth day the prime minister Mohammed Salem Bassindwa resigned, accusing president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi of being "autocratic", senior officials said. State news agency Saba reported Basindawa's resignation, but without giving the reason.
The UN envoy to the conflict-stricken country struggled to broker a last-minute peace deal between Houthi rebels – a militant Shia movement – and the government. The city has reverberated with the sound of shelling, gunfire and fighter jets. Hundreds of people have been displaced from their homes and dozens killed in the fighting, which has spread through much of the west of the capital.
Abdelmalek al-Houthi, the Houthi leader, is calling for the transitional government, in place since 2011, to be dissolved and replaced with a more effective and representative body. He is also calling for fuel subsidies, cut in July, to be reinstated, and for implementation of agreements made during the peace talks, which drew to a close in January.
Hadi, has largely agreed to his demands. But each side claims that the talks have stalled repeatedly because of their counterpart's intransigence.
The government had suspected that peaceful protests by the Houthis in Sana'a might escalate after the militants waged effective campaigns in the north against forces loyal to Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a presidential military adviser with conservative Sunni leanings and one of the Houthis' biggest rivals. Mohsen was their principal antagonist during six years of war between the Houthis and the government between 2004 and 2010.
"[It] is not clear that belligerents, especially the Huthis, are ready to sign at this point," said April Alley, a Yemen specialist at International Crisis Group. "They may have military objectives they want to achieve first. We must wait and see."
Yemenis are sceptical that a political solution can be brokered, and worry that if the fighting continues in Sana'a it could trigger Sunni opposition against the group, including from the virulent al-Qaida franchise. "It is not really a surprise," says Alley of the Houthis' military campaign, "but it could be a terrible miscalculation if their fight against political foes in the capital sparks a larger conflagration."
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| Smoke billowing from building in the Yemen capital of Sana'a on Sept. 21, 2014. |
presstv.ir
Fierce fighting continues between the Ansarullah fighters of the Shia Houthi movement and members of the Salafist Islah party despite a curfew imposed by Yemen’s top security body in the restive areas of the capital, Sana’a.
Clashes are underway in several parts of the city, including in Sana’a University. Several explosions were also heard in the northern parts of the conflict-plagued city.
On Saturday, the Supreme Security Commission declared the curfew in the north and west of Sana’a.
Meanwhile, the UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar says an agreement has been reached between the warring sides to resolve the crisis.
He said the deal is based on the outcomes of the National Dialog Conference and that preparations are underway to sign the agreement.
Fighting has been raging on between Ansarullah fighters and loyalists to Salafist Islah party in Sana’a since Thursday.
The Salafists are backed by some army units, which are under the control of Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the stepbrother of the country’s deposed dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Yemeni capital has been the scene of protests by Ansarullah members for weeks; they have been demanding the establishment of a new government and the reinstatement of fuel subsidies. The protesters say the government is corrupt and marginalizes the country’s Shia community.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently called on Yemeni authorities to probe the use of force against anti-government protesters in Sana’a and other cities.
The Houthi movement played a key role in the popular revolution that forced former dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down in February 2012.
Fighting rages in Yemeni capital as deal with Shia Houthi rebels stalls
Sana'a in fourth day of violence, as Houthi fighters and government claim peace talks stall because of the other's intransigence
Peter Salisbury in Sana'a
The Guardian, Sunday 21 September 2014 07.32 EDT
Fighting has intensified in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, in the biggest challenge to the country's transition to democracy since former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted in 2012.
As violence raged for a fourth day the prime minister Mohammed Salem Bassindwa resigned, accusing president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi of being "autocratic", senior officials said. State news agency Saba reported Basindawa's resignation, but without giving the reason.
The UN envoy to the conflict-stricken country struggled to broker a last-minute peace deal between Houthi rebels – a militant Shia movement – and the government. The city has reverberated with the sound of shelling, gunfire and fighter jets. Hundreds of people have been displaced from their homes and dozens killed in the fighting, which has spread through much of the west of the capital.
Abdelmalek al-Houthi, the Houthi leader, is calling for the transitional government, in place since 2011, to be dissolved and replaced with a more effective and representative body. He is also calling for fuel subsidies, cut in July, to be reinstated, and for implementation of agreements made during the peace talks, which drew to a close in January.
Hadi, has largely agreed to his demands. But each side claims that the talks have stalled repeatedly because of their counterpart's intransigence.
The government had suspected that peaceful protests by the Houthis in Sana'a might escalate after the militants waged effective campaigns in the north against forces loyal to Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a presidential military adviser with conservative Sunni leanings and one of the Houthis' biggest rivals. Mohsen was their principal antagonist during six years of war between the Houthis and the government between 2004 and 2010.
"[It] is not clear that belligerents, especially the Huthis, are ready to sign at this point," said April Alley, a Yemen specialist at International Crisis Group. "They may have military objectives they want to achieve first. We must wait and see."
Yemenis are sceptical that a political solution can be brokered, and worry that if the fighting continues in Sana'a it could trigger Sunni opposition against the group, including from the virulent al-Qaida franchise. "It is not really a surprise," says Alley of the Houthis' military campaign, "but it could be a terrible miscalculation if their fight against political foes in the capital sparks a larger conflagration."
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