Government and rebels delegations left Sana’a for Doha peace talks, 50 journalists banned from entering Sa’ada

Government and rebels delegations left Sana’a for Doha peace talks, 50 journalists banned from entering Sa’ada
By Nasser Arrabyee/22/08/2010

Two delegations from the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels have left Sana’a Sunday for Doha to attend Qatari-sponsored peace talks, well-informed sources said Sunday.

Earlier in the day, an official statement said Ali Bin Ali Al Qaisi, will head the government delegation which will include, Mujahid Ghuthaim, chairman of the the military intelligence, Jalal Al Ruwaishan, deputy chairman of the national security agency.

The chairman of the delegation, Al Qaisi, is the head of the supervisory committee in charges of supervising the implementation of the six conditions set by the government and accepted by the rebels end the war last February.

The official statement said that Yousif Al Faishi, will represent Al Houthi rebels in Doha talks with two other persons . Sources from Al Houthi side said that Dhaif Allah Al Shami and Germany-based Yahya Al Houthi will be two members of the Al Houthi delegation.

The Doha talks, which begins in the coming few days, will focus on the practical details of implementing the six conditions which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons and releasing the detainees.

None of the six conditions was implemented since February 12th, 2010, when the two parties announced fragile truce and desire to implement the conditions of ending the six-year old sporadic war between them.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni army prevented more than 50 journalists from entering Sa’ada to attend a peace conference called for by a local tribal sheikh, journalists said Sunday.
The army released more than 27 journalists after about six hours in detention in two check points in Harf Sufyan between the Sa’ada and the capital Sana’a.

The journalists include the Yemeni reporters and cameramen of Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, Al Hurra, Al Manar Suhail Al Alam, said Omar Al Amki, the journalist who organized the trip on behalf of the tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a.

About 25 more journalists who were already arrived in the city of Sa’ada, returned to Sana’a immediately in solidarity with their colleagues who were arrested in Harf Sufyan.

“These 25 journalists were able to enter Sa’ada because they told the checkpoints they were engineers not journalist s,” said Khaled Al Mahdi, the DPA reporter who was among the 27 arrested by the army in Harf Sufyan.

The tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a invited the journalists to attend a conference in Sa’ada in which he said he would announce a peace initiative.

The army officers at the check points said they did not receive instructions to allow journalists to enter Sa’ada for any reason.

The tribal sheikh Fares Mana’a told the journalists in Sana’a before they headed to Sa’ada, that every thing was coordinated and arranged for their trip. Sheikh Mana’a is famous weapon trader who was blacklisted by the United States early this year for charges of smuggling weapons to Somalia.