SANAA, 18 July 2004 — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said yesterday that “foreign forces” were behind the armed rebellion led by the radical cleric Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi in the north of the Arab country.
“I point my finger directly to foreign forces. He (Al-Houthi) is but a tool at the hands the foreign forces,” Saleh said in a speech to a meeting of veteran MPs marking his 26 years in power.
Government forces have been battling armed followers of the Shiite cleric in the rugged district of Maran in the northern Saada province since June 21.
Authorities accuse Al-Houthi, a former MP and ideologue of the Zaidi school of thought, of leading an armed rebellion and agitating violence through organizing protests against the United States and Israel.
“It is the work of foreign intelligence. It is not a sectarian strife nor a rivalry for power,” Saleh said, adding that “the fingerprints of foreign intelligence are clear in this.”
Fierce clashes between the government forces and Al-Houthi’s armed men, estimated to number over 1,000, are still going on as army troops backed by tanks, artillery and helicopters surround the rebels’ mountainous strongholds in Maran.
More than 200 people, including over 40 soldiers, have been killed in the clashes so far, according to official estimates.
