A senior Yemeni cleric this week called for an end to the Al-Houthi rebellion in the north of the country by force, reports Nasser Arrabyee Yemeni cleric Mohamed Azzan called on the country's army to change its strategy in order to crush the Al-Houthi rebels in the north of the country at a forum held in the capital Sanaa on Monday. The army should act even before studying the rebels' demands, Azzan said. Zaidi cleric Azzan established the Al-Shabab Al-Mumen organisation in Saada in the north of the country in 1991, along with other Zaidi intellectuals including Mohamed Badreddin Al-Houthi, brother of the current leader of the Al-Houthi rebels Abdel-Malik Al-Houthi. "No solution can be reached before the rebellion is crushed," Azzan said. "In order to do that, the army should change its strategy so that it can regain people's confidence. Once the army has imposed full control over the Al-Houthi areas, the state can begin to listen to the rebels and respond to any legitimate and reasonable demands." Hussein Al-Houthi, the slain former leader of the Al-Houthi rebels, himself joined the Al-Shabab Al-Mumen group in 1998, leaving it in 2001 after he had established the Al-Houthi rebel group, which has been fighting the Yemeni government under the slogans of "death to America, death to Israel, and victory to Islam". According to Azzan, the rebels "want to achieve one main goal, which is to turn Yemen into a religious state ruled by an alleged descendant of the Prophet." "Hussein Al-Houthi did his best to attack the Zaidis, accusing them of weakness and not doing enough for themselves. He always said that the Zaidis would come to nothing if they did not change their ways and rally around him, just so he could turn them into gangs fit only for killing, and plundering," Azzan said, justifying his view that Yemen's army should not hesitate to crush the rebels. The Al-Houthi rebels do not bear allegiance to Yemen's constitution or republican system of government, and they describe the September 1962 Revolution, which established a republic in much of the country, as a military coup against legitimate rule that was in their hands for some 1,100 years. Azzan, himself from the rebel area of Saada, said that the Al-Houthi rebels had torn down the flag of the republic in areas under their control, suppressed the local authorities, established their own courts and appointed their own judges, levied zakat (a religious tax), changed the curriculum in schools and replaced teachers and imams. Azzan said that in his view the Al-Houthi group had no future in Yemen because it was "based on a sectarian background". The group did not have a coherent vision for the country as a whole, he said, and it based its claims on faith alone. Others had claimed that they were ruling as descendants of the Prophet before the Al-Houthis, Azzan said, but when such people in fact ruled, they did not necessarily improve standards of government. For its part, the Yemeni army has reiterated its intention to continue to fight the rebels according to a strategy suitable for the guerrilla tactics used by the Al-Houthis. According to military sources who participated in heavy bombardments on 3 November, the army destroyed a number of houses in the old city of Saada where Al-Houthi rebels were positioned using artillery and tanks. Before the bombardments took place, the army used loudspeakers to alert the rebels to the impending attacks and to urge them to surrender before an ultimatum expired at midnight on Monday. The bombardment started immediately the ultimatum ended at midnight on Monday and continued until the early morning on Tuesday, with houses in the Najran district of the city, allegedly occupied by the rebels, being destroyed, the sources said. "We were pounding with artillery and tanks from tens of metres away, so we did not miss any target," the sources said. According to army sources, no one surrendered and no one escaped because the old city was surrounded in all directions by the army. However, at least seven rebels were reported to have surrendered by 11am on Tuesday. Around 300 rebels have been arrested in the city of Saada since the present round of the conflict began on 10 August. It is thought that the Al-Houthi rebels only occupy one neighbourhood of the city, Najran, and other areas in the old city are lived in by people loyal to the government. For this reason, it has been difficult for the army to expel the rebel forces. At least 20 Al-Houthi rebels were killed when they tried to implement a suicide attack on government offices in Saada on Monday, according to sources in the city. The Yemeni army has said that it is determined to expel the rebels from Saada, saying that they hide themselves among the urban population and implement attacks on the security forces. The destruction of the houses on Monday night came after the rebels failed in their attacks on the house of tribal sheikh Hussein Aidha in the centre of the city early on Monday. More than 70 rebels and 25 tribesmen were also killed on Monday in fierce battles between rebels and tribesmen in the Dammj area about 15km southeast of Saada city. The first Salafi school in Yemen, Dar Al-Hadith, was established in Dammaj, with the Salafis who came to Yemen from Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s being considered historical opponents of the Zaidi-Shia Houthis. Yemen's army has said that it is also making progress on the other two frontlines in the conflict at Harfy Sufyan in the south of Saada and Al-Malahaid in the far west. The army is thought to be about to establish full control of the Al-Malahaid area after it gained control of Jabal Al-Dukhan earlier this week, one of the most important military posts. The Al-Houthi rebels have said that Saudi Arabian forces have been attacking them from this post, and they have threatened to strike at Saudi Arabia if it does not stop what the rebels allege is its "flagrant aggression and dangerous intervention". The Saudi authorities have "allowed the Yemeni army to use a Saudi base in Jabal Al-Dukhan, from which it has launched attacks," said Al-Houthi in an e-mail statement. In a statement Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Querbi said that Yemen was also investigating alleged Iranian involvement in the conflict. Yemen was keeping its options open in dealing with any Iranian involvement, he said, adding that the results of the investigation would be made public in due course. In a separate development, the secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Akmaleddin Ihsan Oglo, said that his organisation was supporting the unity, security and stability of Yemen when he visited the country earlier this week and met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and other officials. Oglo expressed his support for the five conditions set by the Yemeni government for halting the conflict, describing them as "a very good basis for peace." He also reiterated the importance of foreign interference being kept out of the conflict. The Yemeni government's five conditions include the rebels coming down from their redoubts in the mountains and surrendering their weapons. Meanwhile, support for the Yemeni government in its conflict with the Al-Houthi rebels continues both inside and outside Yemen, with convoys of assistance for the army and displaced people leaving almost every day for Saada from all over the country. A convoy of about 200 lorries and cars laden with relief materials went to Saada recently on behalf of the population of Sanaa, for example. Two airplanes laden with relief materials from the UAE Red Crescent also arrived at the airport of Hodeidah in the west of Yemen on Tuesday. The cargo, which includes tents and mattresses and food and medicines, will take many hours on Yemen's roads to reach displaced people in the Al-Mazrak area in the west of Saada on the border with Saudi Arabia. The head of the UAE delegation accompanying the airplanes said that his delegation would be establishing a new camp for about 7,000 refugees in the Haradh area in Saada.
