SANAA, 17 February 2007 — Yemen has officially asked Libya to hand over a brother of a rebel leader whose followers are battling government forces in northern Yemen, the Saba news agency reported yesterday.
The agency quoted official sources as saying that Yahya Al-Houthi, a member of Parliament, would be put on trial soon after he is extradited from Libya for “his leading role in the strife” in the northern province of Saada, some 230 km north of the capital Sanaa.
Authorities would ask Parliament to strip the MP of his parliamentary immunity ahead of prosecuting him, Saba said.
The legislator left the country last year during battles in Saada between followers of the outlawed Believing Youth group that was founded by his elder brother, Hussein, who was killed in 2004.
Bloody confrontations between Houthi’s followers and the army have since left over 720 government troops dead, according to the official toll. Hundreds of rebels were also killed. Government forces launched last week a major assault on rebel positions in Saada after weeks of tit-for-tat attacks.
Yahya is a member of the General People’s Congress headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh and is widely seen as a moderate. His younger brother, Abdul-Malik, is now leading remnants of the armed group.
