Al Houthi rebels must start implementing the conditions for ending the war, official

Al Houthi rebels must start implementing the conditions for ending the war, official


By Nasser Arrabyee/02/01/2010


A senior official of the Yemen ruling party said the military operations against Al Houthi rebels would only stop after the rebels start implementing the six conditions set by the government.

The rebels must not deal as a group independent from the Yemeni state, said Tarek Al Shami, the spokesman of the ruling party, on Tuesday commenting on a new announcement by the rebels to accept all conditions including not to attacking Saudi Arabia.

"The rebels must realize that they are Yemeni citizens, and they must deal within the framework of the State not as an independent group," Al Shami said.

Al Houthi rebels said Tuesday in a new statement sent through emails, he would swap the "prisoners" with Saudi Arabia, while the Yemeni government demands them to hand over the "kidnapped" Yemeni and Saudi people.

"If there is a willingness to have peace, this issue can be solved through an exchange of prisoners," said the rebels in their statement.

They also said their announcement of withdrawal from Saudi territories last week was a signal that they would not like to attack the Saudis any more.




"As long as no one attacks us, we would not target any party," the rebels said in the statement.

These statements from both sides come while the battles on the ground intensify day by day as the Yemeni army try to have the upper hand over the exhausted rebels.

The dispute now between the rebels and the army is over who will start to implement the conditions of ending the war which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons.

Clashes between the rebels and the Saudi forces are continuing despite Al Houthi's announcement of withdrawal and the Saudi's announcement ending the war with the rebels, or infiltrators as they are called by the Saudis.


"The rebels should withdraw the snipers from the Saudi borders and open roads and remove mines, before we start the next step which is about the mechanisms of implementing the whole conditions," Al Shami said.