Hopes for a resolution to Yemen's struggles with rebel groups appear a little brighter following the intervention of Qatar, writes Nasser Arrabyee After the two warring Yemeni sides approved this week a Qatari-brokered peace pact to end a five-month armed rebellion in the north, the attainment of peace in the war-stricken province of Saada will be the ultimate test for the implementation of any successful solution. In spite of the general welcome for the ceasefire between the rebels and government troops, reactions among citizens in the affected areas in particular and Yemenis in general differed, with some people still sceptical about the ability of the government to convince the rebels to lay down their arms and absorb the full impact of the consequences of the war. Al-Houthi followers were doubtful, until two days following the declaration of the ceasefire on 16 May, about amnesty guarantees. They still feared being detained or killed in acts of tribal retaliation after the war, which they stated was "forced upon us, leaving us no choice but to defend ourselves against an unjust state." Government loyalists, who were victims of attacks by the Al-Houthis during the war, kept asking who was behind the attacks. "We do not know who was responsible for what happened to us, the Qatari mediation seems to have granted the rebels immunity from punishment," claimed a prominent citizen from Saada. Meanwhile, the 45 Yemeni Jews who have been ensconced in a luxurious tourist resort in Sanaa, since the beginning of the year after they were driven out of their village in Al-Salem in Saada, by Al-Houthi rebels following the outbreak of the war, said they would only return home after the Al-Houthi followers laid down their weapons. In light of this reality, following four wars since June 2004, a Yemeni political parliamentary committee arrived Monday in Saada in order to supervise the implementation of the Qatari-brokered agreement aimed at ending the fourth armed rebellion which claimed hundreds of lives. The nine-member committee included five chairmen from the ruling and opposition party blocks, and independents from the House of Representatives and the lower chamber. The other four members came from the upper chamber or Shura Council. "The committee is politically based and has no connection to the military, so if both sides respect the ceasefire, we will then implement the necessary requirements," said committee member Abdul-Rahman Ba Fadhl, chairman of the Islamic opposition party, Islah. "After that we'll will talk to the press," he added. In order to guarantee the implementation of the agreement, a member of the committee, Sultan Al-Atwani, chairman of the opposition Nasserite Party, said, "the credibility of both sides in adhering to the accord is the first necessary step to guarantee its implementation and for our part we will do our best to enforce the ceasefire, according to the constitution and law." Before leaving for Doha last Saturday, accompanied by two other leaders and their families, Shia commander of the armed rebellion, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, reiterated he would cease hostilities and commit to Yemen's republican system in response to a request by the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. In a statement he sent to the Yemeni government late on Saturday, Al Houthi stated, "in response to the call of his Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh in his speech in Ibb city on 22 May, 2007 on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of the National Day, in order to spare further bloodshed, we announce a halt to the violence and fighting. We further commit ourselves to the republican system, constitution, and laws of the country. This is in addition to the implementation of the conditions we agreed to with the state of Qatar, under the auspices of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, emir of the state of Qatar. Signed Abdul-Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi. 16 May, 2007." The Yemeni government immediately responded to the statement saying it would stop all military operations if the Al-Houthis indeed committed to all the conditions included in the Qatari- brokered agreement. The leaders of the armed rebellion left Yemen on Saturday and travelled to Qatar. Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, Abdul-Karim Al-Houthi (brothers of the slain Hussein Al-Houthi) and tribal chief Abdullah Al-Ruzami, and their families flew from Saudi Arabia to Doha, sources told Al-Ahram Weekly. The three men, who led the armed rebellion three times, after Hussein Al-Houthi was killed in September 2004 following his battling government troops for three months, were too afraid to travel from Sanaa airport, the sources added. Yehia Al-Houthi, another brother of the slain Hussein who is based in Germany, also arrived in Doha earlier in the week. Yehia, who was an MP in the ruling party before leaving for Germany after the murder of his brother, was very active in making contact, and establishing ties, with Iran and Libya. Both countries are accused by the Yemeni government of supporting the rebellion, a charge they deny. The nine-point accord states that rebellion leaders must stay in Qatar without getting involved in any political or media activity, hostile to the Yemeni government, and that they can only leave the country on receiving approval from the Yemeni government prior to departure. Further conditions of the accord stipulated that military operations must cease, the rebellion end, political detainees (other than those being tried for acts of sabotage) released, weapons and ammunition surrendered and freedom of expression respected. Furthermore, Al-Houthi followers should be permitted to establish a political party, on condition that incitement campaigns in the media stop, and the Yemeni government be obliged to rebuild and repair damage inflicted on the areas where the fighting took place. Commenting on the ceasefire, Mohamed Azan, an analyst from Saada and a researcher on the Zaidi sect, said that ending the war and bringing peace to Saada would be a better way of resolving issues, than resorting to war. "If the war was a way to avoid problems, then peace could be a means of addressing and overcoming problematic issues permanently if lessons are learnt by both sides," said Azan who is the secretary-general of the Believing Youth organisation, to which the slain Hussein Al-Houthi belonged before he established his own group, the Slogan Movement. Their slogan was, "Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam." "The rebellion was just an absurd way of fulfilling personal ambitions, but unfortunately, its fake slogans deceived not only the laymen but also some intellectuals whose analyses and predictions have ended up as being embarrassingly incorrect," Azan said.
