Asia

Home page

Asia

Saudi troops ’forced Yemen rebels from their soil’

28 January 2010 02:01 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Saudi troops forced out Yemeni rebels who said they had withdrawn from Saudi soil, the country’s deputy defence minister has said, APA reports quoting BBC.
On Monday the Houthi rebel leader had said his forces would withdraw voluntarily, given the chance.
But Prince Khalid bin Sultan said on Wednesday his forces had encountered resistance and taken 1,500 prisoners.
Only isolated Houthi snipers remained in the mountainous area inside Saudi territory seized last year, he said.
"They did not withdraw. They have been forced out," Prince Sultan told a news conference near the border with Yemen.
Prince Sultan said 109 Saudi troops had been killed in the three month operation to recapture the area.
’Remember history’
Prince Sultan said the offer of a ceasefire made by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, offering to withdraw his troops, could not be trusted.
The minister said his forces were still taking sniper fire from remaining Houthi rebels.
"We must remember history when it comes to Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and his people," the minister said in an address to troops on the border with Yemen.
"They have gone to war with the Yemeni government on five occasions. They have also signed five agreements with the Yemeni Authorities. However they broke those agreements after a year or two," he said.
The rebels should withdraw snipers and return captured Saudi soldiers to show their good faith, Prince Sultan said.
Houthi forces entered Saudi Arabia in November after making accusations that the government in Riyadh was aiding the Yemeni government in their campaign against the rebels.
Fighting between members of the minority Shia Zaydi sect and the state has occurred sporadically since 2004.
The rebels accuse the Yemeni government of social, economic and religious marginalisation.
Alongside the fighting in the north and a secessionist movement in the south, Western policymakers believe al-Qaeda is gaining a foothold in Yemen.
In early January, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said instability in Yemen was a global as well as regional threat.
The conflict in the north has forced 200,000 people to flee their homes, aid agencies say.