Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 22:13:49 +0200
Houthis overrun intelligence headquarters in Sana'a, free Iranians
Yemeni president appoints new advisors from ranks of Houthis and Southern
pro-separatist movements
Written by : <http://www.aawsat.net/author/arafat-madabish> Arafat Madabish
on : Thursday, 25 Sep, 2014
Sana'a, Asharq Al-Awsat-Several Iranian military personnel previously
detained in Yemen's national security headquarters were released on
Wednesday by Houthi rebels who are in control of most of the capital Sana'a,
sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Shi'ite rebels overran the main base of Yemen's intelligence service,
located in the Sarraf district of central Sana'a on Wednesday, setting free
crew of the Jihan 1, the Iranian ship that was captured off the Yemeni coast
in January 2013.
Yemeni officials said the ship was being used to smuggle a large cache of
weapons to Houthi militants when it was seized.
The Shi'ite rebels have exerted great efforts to secure the release of the
Iranians, who included military experts affiliated with the Iranian Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, a security source who requested anonymity told
Asharq Al-Awsat.
The move proves that "Houthis are continuing their efforts to implement
regional agendas" in Yemen, he added.
Meanwhile, Yemeni authorities released two Iranians they arrested earlier
this year at Sana'a International Airport on suspicion of training Shi'ite
insurgents, news agency AFP reported on Thursday.
The release was secured after meditation efforts from Oman, a neighboring
Arab Gulf state that enjoys good ties with Iran.
The two Iranians left Sana'a airport on board an Omani plane heading towards
the Sultanate.
Meanwhile, Yemen's President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi issued a decree on
Wednesday appointing two new presidential advisers, Saleh Al-Samad from the
Houthi Ansar Allah organization, and Yassin Mekawi, who belongs to the
secessionist movement based in Southern Yemen known as Al-Hirak.
The appointments are part of a UN-brokered deal signed by the central
government and the Houthis to end the fighting that led to the fall of
Sana'a into the rebels' hands earlier this week.
The government has also agreed to cut fuel prices by 15 percent, reversing a
controversial price hike that sparked unrest in July, and led the Houthis to
mobilize and occupy a number of protest camps across the capital for over a
month.
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Hadi brands Houthi takeover of Sana'a as "foreign plot"
Houthi leader vows to defeat Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Written by : <http://www.aawsat.net/author/arafat-madabish> Arafat Madabish
on : Wednesday, 24 Sep, 2014
Sana'a, Asharq Al-Awsat-Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi said in a
meeting at the presidential palace on Tuesday that the Houthi takeover of
Sana'a came as a result of "a foreign and internal plot," warning that the
current crisis could plunge the country into "civil war."
"There is a foreign and internal plot that aims at impeding the experiment
of Yemen in the peaceful transition," Hadi told members of the cabinet,
parliament and Shura Council on Tuesday.
Hadi's comments came less than 48 hours after the central government and the
Shi'ite Houthi rebels signed a UN-brokered deal to defuse the month-long
crisis, which has seen the Houthis take control of a number of government
buildings in Sana'a after intermittent violence killed over 300 people.
In the month prior to the agreement, supporters of the Houthis occupied a
number of protest camps across Sana'a demanding the formation of a more
inclusive government and the reversal of a controversial fuel subsidy cut.
Though Hadi did not explicitly accuse any foreign state of masterminding the
recent crisis, many observers believe his criticism was directed at Iran.
"Many powers came together, either those who lost their interests in Yemen
or those pushed by their personal grievances to take their revenge on their
country rather than on individuals, or the opportunists who take advantage
of any disaster to attack the country," the state-owned SABA news agency
quoted him as saying.
Hadi vowed to "restore the security and stability in Yemen" despite the
challenges and to "work towards implementing the outcomes of the National
Dialogue Conference."
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yemeni presidential advisor Dr. Faris Al-Saqqaf
said: "My initial assessment of the implementation of the agreement is that
it is going well and smoothly and I can say that the ceasefire was observed
on the night of the signing of the agreement, and now we are in the process
of implementing the remaining terms."
According to Saqqaf, the primary concern now is to name a new prime minister
and appoint two presidential advisors from the ranks of the Houthi Ansar
Allah organization and the secessionist movement based in Southern Yemen
known as Al-Hirak. After that, a gradual clearing of Houthi sit-ins will be
enforced, he maintained.
When asked about Hadi's allegations of a foreign plot behind the Houthi
takeover, the advisor argued that what was happening in Yemen was due to the
"former regime's remnants who resist change and think it does not serve
their interests."
Meanwhile, thousands of Houthi supporters marched through the streets of
Sana'a celebrating their successful takeover of state buildings.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi saluted his supporters in a speech from
his stronghold in the governorate of Saada on the border with Saudi Arabia,
pledging to remove "the remaining obstacle," a reference to the Sunni
radical militants of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
<http://www.aawsat.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Houthi-celebrations.jpg>
Supporters of the Shi'ite Houthi movement wave Yemeni flags as they
celebrate in Sana'a, Yemen, on September 23, 2014. (EPA/Wadia Mohammed)
Supporters of the Shi'ite Houthi movement wave Yemeni flags as they
celebrate in Sana'a, Yemen, on September 23, 2014. (EPA/Wadia Mohammed)
(image/jpeg attachment: image001.jpg)