SANAA, 6 July 2004 — At least 53 people were killed in the past two days in ongoing clashes between Yemeni government forces and supporters of a fugitive anti-US cleric, military sources said yesterday.
Seven of the dead were government soldiers and 46 were militant supporters of the cleric Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi, the sources added. The deaths bring to at least 171 the number of fatalities in the continuing fighting, which first erupted on June 21.
That number is expected to rise following the latest bout of fighting, according to the military sources at the scene. Clashes were still raging in Marran, where the noose was tightening around Al-Houthi and his supporters, said military sources, reached by telephone from Sanaa. Army troops seized three outposts in Jaria, Harban and Malhat, isolating the insurgents in Jumeima in Marran’s rugged mountains, the sources said. “The troops are one kilometer from Jumeima,” one source said.
Al-Houthi, a member of the Zaidi community, is wanted by the authorities for allegedly seeking to foment sectarian strife. Army and police forces deployed reinforcements around the stronghold of the cleric, after the failure on June 28 of a mediation bid by authorities aimed at securing his surrender. In remarks published on Sunday, President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on Al-Houthi to turn himself in, promising him a fair trial.
“I call on you to surrender and I guarantee a fair process in the accusations against you,” Saleh was quoted by local media as saying during a meeting with religious officials, who he said could appoint “a lawyer to defend Al-Houthi.” The president said he wanted to bring an end to the bloodshed. Security sources told AFP on Sunday that more than 200 extremists had been captured.
Dozens of Al-Houthi’s supporters, accompanied by tribal leaders of regions bordering Marran, turned themselves in early Sunday after violent fighting at dawn, local officials said.
Officials also told AFP that dozens of people who had infiltrated Marran’s rugged mountains to join Al-Houthi’s rebellion were arrested on Saturday.
Huthi, who served as an MP in Yemen’s Parliament from 1993 to 1997, enjoys the support of up to 3,000 armed rebels, according to activists close to the preacher.
Trial of Cole Attack Suspects
The trial of suspected militants charged with bombing the US destroyer Cole in October 2000 will resume in Sanaa tomorrow, the Yemeni Defense Ministry said on its website yesterday. Five suspects will appear before a state security court, which opened the trial on June 6, and a sixth will be tried in absentia.
