Al-Houthi rebels fighting the security forces in northern Yemen this week refused a government offer of a ceasefire, writes Nasser Arrabyee Two weeks have now passed since conflict erupted between the Al-Houthi Shia rebels and government troops in Saada in the north of Yemen, with hundreds of people having been killed or injured as a result and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes from this conflict in which tanks, artillery and fighter jets are being used. Abdel-Malik Al-Houthi, the leader of the rebels, refused an offer of peace made by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the beginning of the month of Ramadan on 22 August, possibly because the rebels are stronger now than they were in 2004 when they first started their armed rebellion against the Yemeni government in an effort to establish a clerical state. The rebels will also be aware that Saleh's government is facing three other major challenges in addition to the conflict in the north. Yemen's government is also struggling with increasing secessionist sentiment in the south of the country, the growing activity of Al-Qaeda, and a deterioration in the economic situation linked to a fall in oil prices, on which the government largely depends. The Al-Houthi rebels appear to be trying to exploit this difficult situation by launching their latest round of attacks. Despite recent offers of peace, the Yemeni government seems to be determined to rid the country of what it has described as "the cancer" of the Al-Houthi rebel group, if necessary by the use of overwhelming force. This new round in the conflict, the sixth since 2004, has seen Saleh mobilising the support of tribesmen across the country in an effort to crush the rebels. The chiefs of two of Yemen's most influential tribes, the Hashed and the Bakil, declared this week in letters to President Saleh that they would fight with the Yemeni army against the rebels. Tribesmen have also started to send assistance and volunteers to support the army and help the displaced. Regarding the conflict itself, government forces have now secured the road between the northern city of Saada and the capital Sanaa, which the rebels had earlier controlled. Following the Yemeni army's regaining control of the mountainous area of Harf Sufyan earlier this week, eyewitnesses said they had seen dozens of dead bodies at the sides of the road. Local sources estimate that more than 100 rebels, including two field commanders, have been killed in battles to secure the roads in Harf Sufyan about 140km north of the capital Sanaa. As the air strikes continue on the main rebel strongholds in Dhahyan, Mutrah and Naqaa close to the border with Saudi Arabia, military officials say that the army is closing in and the end of conflict is imminent. However, the rebels depend on the high and rugged mountains of the area for protection, and they also use ambush tactics against government forces. Although they deny receiving support from Iran, heavy weapons, including artillery and missiles, and hi- tech communication equipment used by the rebels have raised questions regarding their source. Iranian-made weapons were found among the six weapon caches seized by government troops earlier this week in the Harf Sufyan area. Accusations have been flying between Yemen and Iran since the current round of the conflict started, with the spokesman for the Yemeni government, Minister of Information Hussan Al-Lawzi, saying that Yemen was ready "to settle accounts with Iran" for supporting the Al-Houthi rebels. "Various media channels have revealed the financial and political support enjoyed by the Al-Houthi rebels and saboteurs, especially satellite channels like Al-Alam and Al-Kawthar and Tehran Radio. Everybody knows who finances these channels," Al-Lawzi said. "These channels are interfering in our internal affairs, and we will settle our accounts with the states behind them," he said. Yemen denied allegations aired by Al-Alam that Saudi Arabia and Yemen had established a joint operations room for running the conflict against the Shia rebels. For its part, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has denied the allegations of Iranian involvement and has called for a political solution to the conflict. According to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi, "the propaganda in the [Yemeni] media is simply not true. We believe the issue is Yemen's internal issue, and we think there should be a political solution. Bloodshed cannot help solve the problems." Speaking to a news conference last Monday, Qashqavi said that "we have always respected Yemen's territorial integrity and national sovereignty, and we want to see peace, stability and calm in that country." The Al-Houthi rebels themselves have also denied allegations that they have hostile intentions towards Saudi Arabia and are fighting a proxy war on Iran's behalf in Yemen. "We are not fighting on any third party's behalf, and we defy anyone to prove that we are. What we are doing is defending ourselves against unjust aggression," Al-Houthi wrote in a letter addressed to the people and leadership of Saudi Arabia. "What's being said in the media are rumours aiming to make the Saudi regime participate in the war," said the letter, sent by e-mail from Al-Houthi's office. The Al-Houthi rebels answered the Yemeni government's offer of peace at the beginning of Ramadan by insisting that they wanted to return to the Qatari- sponsored deal signed early last year in Doha. President Saleh had said in his offer that he would halt Yemeni army operations if the rebels withdrew from the districts they controlled, removed the check points they had established, left their mountain hideouts, and stopped blocking roads and carrying out acts of sabotage. The rebels should hand over the military and civil equipment they had seized and clarify the fate of the six foreigners they are believed to have kidnapped. They should also hand over local people who had been kidnapped. Should the rebels refuse these conditions, Saleh said, the army would take decisive action against them. The conditions are similar to those of the Doha deal, which also stipulated that the rebels should retreat from their mountain hideouts, hand over heavy and medium-sized weapons, and send their top three leaders into exile in Qatar. Saleh had earlier described Al-Houthi himself as a radical aiming to rule Yemen by "divine right". His actions had forced the government to build military fortifications instead of schools in Saada, Saleh said. The Yemeni government has been taking tight security measures in the capital Sanaa since the war erupted, fearing possible attacks from Al-Houthi sympathisers. Two rebel supporters were arrested in Sanaa on Friday while distributing leaflets in support of Al-Houthi. For his part, Al-Houthi has ignored Saleh's offer of peace, instead supporting a call from the country's opposition parties for a ceasefire. This came last Tuesday amid demands that relief organisations be able to go to the war-affected areas to help the displaced. In a statement, the opposition parties said that they were ready to participate in all "national efforts" to end the conflict.
