Yemen refugees increase, Al Houthi to be tried in absentia

By Nasser Arrabyee/26/10/2009


The displaced people by the war northern Yemen will increase from 83,000 to 122,000 over the coming few days, said Yemeni official Monday.

Abdul Kareem Rase's minister public health and chairman of relief efforts coordination committee said that Yemen's government spent about 2.5 million dollars for outfitting about 17 camps to accommodate all displaced people.

Earlier in the week, the ambassadors of United Arab Emirates and Oman in Yemen, Abdullah Al Mazroey, and Abdullah Al Badi, announced 10 million Dirham and 3 million dollars respectively as support from their countries to help the increasing number of displaced people because of the war between Al Houthi rebels and government troops.

The UN estimates the IDPs from during all the rounds of war since 2004, at 150,000. It says it needs about 24 million US dollars to help them during the coming four months.

For security and military developments, the rebel leader Abdul Khaleq Refan Haliman was arrested Sunday in a hospital in the capital Sana'a where he was being treated from injuries he had in clashes with security forces in Al Jawf province.

At least 10 rebels were killed in combing operations in two different places in Sa'ada, military sources said Monday.

Six of them were killed in Shuthan, Manbah, where troops controlled the rebels' posts and found a big quantity of weapons and ammunition, the sources said.

And the other four rebels were killed in the mountain of Ahsan which overlooks the road of Sa'ada Al Buqa'a, the sources said.

Meanwhile, court sources said that the State Security Court, starts today Monday the trial in absentia of the rebel leader Yahya Al Houthi who is living now in Germany.

The prosecution accuses Al Houthi of participating in forming an armed gang during the period of 2009-2009, to carry out sabotage acts and planning to assassinate important personalities including the US ambassador in Yemen.