Yemeni forces captured and killed Shia rebel cleric Hussein Al-Houthi, but the roots of the rebellion live on, writes Peter Willems from Sanaa Friday, the Yemeni government announced that its forces had killed rebel cleric Hussein Al-Houthi, thus bringing an end to clashes in northern Yemen that lasted for over two and a half months. Al- Houthi and a number of his armed followers were killed after three days of intense fighting. The rebel leader was holed up in Jarf Salman, a village in the Jabal Maraan mountains, located in the Saada province 240km north of Sanaa, the nation's capital. A statement from the Yemeni Interior and Defence Ministries released the day Al-Houthi was killed said, "Today, all the military and security operations to quell the rebellion launched by Hussein Al-Houthi and his supporters have ended with the killing of Al-Houthi and a number of his aides." The statement added that President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged all citizens who were affected by the fighting to return to their homes and carry on with their lives. Official figures show that up to 600 soldiers and rebels were killed during ongoing fighting. Some witnesses close to the fighting claim that the death toll may have been closer to 1,500. Thousands of families in the area had to flee their homes as a result of the fighting. Yemeni officials also announced that the government will form a ministerial committee to assess damages resulting from the fighting and help rebuild the area. The government accused Al-Houthi of establishing unlicensed religious centres, organising violent anti-US and anti-Israeli protests and attacking government buildings and security forces. He was the founder of a group called "The Believing Youth" and was charged with training his followers to form an illegal armed group at his base in the north of the country. Al-Houthi was a Zaidi Shia leader -- a minority Muslim sect in Yemen that makes up around 30 per cent of the population -- and was a member of the parliament representing the Al-Haq Party from 1993 to 1997. Al-Houthi was not accused of having connections with Al-Qaeda, though. The rebel leader claimed that he was against the Yemeni government having a close relationship with the United States. Yemen, the ancestral home of the mastermind of the Al-Qaeda network Osama Bin Laden, was seen as a safe haven for extremists before it joined the United States in the fight against terrorism after attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September, 2001. Since then, authorities have rounded up hundreds of terrorist suspects, including key Al-Qaeda members. Some analysts are concerned that supporters of Al-Houthi still on the run may continue to carry out attacks. It was reported that fighting continued in the northern area late into the night on Friday. Two bombs exploded in Saada city that killed nine people and wounded 50 others just days before the Yemeni forces killed the rebel leader. Although it is unknown who was responsible for the attacks, some suspect that Al-Houthi's rebel group may have carried out the bombings. Others believe that the death of Al-Houthi will likely demoralise his supporters thus bringing an end to the rebellion. Khaled Al-Akwaa, professor of public policy at Sanaa University, believes that some of Al-Houthi's supporters might go on fighting to the death. Moreover, the fact that Al-Houthi's group was able to hold out against thousands of government troops, tanks and helicopter gunships for nearly three months may well inspire other extremist groups to emerge, observers suggest. Anti-US sentiment has been running high in the country since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the brutal and ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. Weapons are easily available at markets in Yemen: government officials estimate that there are 60 million weapons owned by 19 million Yemenis. Another concern is rampant poverty across the country. Over 42 per cent of Yemenis live below the poverty line, while 25 per cent are living just above it. Many believe that if the government does not act soon to boost the economy and reduce poverty, the country may become a recruiting ground for militant armed groups. Abdullah Al-Faqih, professor of political science at Sanaa University, said that if the government does not focus more on reforming the economy, "Yemen will undergo a period of instability, conflict and lawlessness. It will be a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism. It will serve as a destabilising force in the region."
