SANAA, 13 July 2004 — Fresh clashes broke out yesterday between the army and supporters of a rebel preacher in Yemen, a military source said, as residents reported the soldiers were facing tough resistance.
“The fighting resumed in the morning with supporters of Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi,” holed out in his stronghold of Marran, in the province of Saada, the source told AFP.
According to the latest unofficial toll, some 200 people have been killed in the fighting since it began on June 18 in the vast rugged terrain of Marran.
The source could not say if the latest exchange resulted in any deaths. Residents said the army has faced fierce opposition from Al-Houthi’s armed men, estimated to number up to 3,000.
“For the past three days, the army has withdrawn from three positions at the top of the mountains because of the tactics adopted by Al-Houthi’s supporters,” one resident told AFP.
“The army has suffered human losses in the fighting” over the past few days, another resident said, adding that dozens of wounded soldiers had been evacuated.
The authorities have offered a 10 million riyal ($455,000) reward for information leading to the capture of the preacher, a former MP whom they accuse of seeking to foment sectarian strife.
Troops and police stepped up their offensive against the cleric after the abandonment of a mediation effort by MPs and other dignitaries on June 28.
Earlier this week, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has accused foreign elements of supporting Al-Houthi’s uprising, called on the preacher to turn himself in, promising him a fair trial.
According to Saleh, the preacher heads the “Faithful Youth” organization, formed in 1997 as a breakaway from the Islamist opposition movement Al-Haq.
Meanwhile, Yemen has been given vast tracts of desert land by Saudi Arabia under an agreement signed four years ago. The deal covers a total of 40,000 square kilometers of territory being handed over by Saudi Arabia to Yemen.
The land handover kicked off on Sunday, when Yemen regained control of three border areas, including an airport in Al-Bedaea on which the Yemeni flag was hoisted.
Sanaa took over another five tracts of land yesterday and another five will come under its control today, the state news agency Saba reported.
In total, Saudi Arabia has handed Yemen some 40,000 square kilometers, including 35,000 square kilometers in the eastern border areas of Hadhramaut, a Yemeni official told AFP.
The other 5,000 square kilometers lies in the west of Yemen in problematic border areas managed under an accord dating back to 1934.
“A joint commission was formed to find solutions to the problems faced by tribes of these mountainous areas after the border demarcation,” the official said.
