Race of war and peace in Sa’ada [Archives:2008/1128/Opinion]
Mohammed Al-Maqaleh
As the Yemeni Prime Minister's plane landed in Doha Airport, the government troops were attacking the Haidan district, Houthis' stronghold, with tanks, mortars and rockets. And while, Gen.
Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar was sitting on the negotiation table with Houthis' representative Sheikh Saleh Habra, discussing the means of implementing the previous Doha Agreement and receiving funds from the Qatari government to compensate those whose property was damaged in the previous wars, tanks belonging to the 17th Military Division destroyed the house of the citizen Ahmad Al-Eyani in the Haidan district and killed his two younger daughters Atyaf, 6, and Wafa'a, 4. In addition, other family members have been reportedly injured in the operation including both parents.
Away from the humanitarian aspect in the civil wars, the critical question being raised here is that “Why all this? Does the authority want a fifth Sa'ada war to break out? Recent reports assessing the situation in the restive governorate indicates that the government has plans to wage a fifth war. Other reports reveal the regional positions about the crisis, mainly that of Saudi Arabia, rejecting any Qatari mediation efforts to contain the escalating crisis.
We are not sure whether the authority wants a truce amid the dire situations and political congestions nationwide, specifically in the south part of Yemen. The expected developments in the restive governorate may give a clear answer to the question in the days to come.
What we can say for the time being is that there is confusion on the part of the authority with regard to how it can deal with the Sa'ada turmoil, and this confusion is traceable to a real dispute and controversy between the conflicting government officials. Some of them back the war while others want it to be postponed or suggest peaceful solutions to the problem.
Frankly speaking, some government officials say that protests in the South would have never occurred had the army scored victory in Sa'ada and defeated the Houthi-led rebellion. Ending the Sa'ada crisis by intensive military operations or other means is the only means for resolving South Yemen's turmoil and subduing all those triggering animosity toward the nation and its unity from inside Yemen or abroad, according to these government officials.
Through the past experience, I fear that the wing of force and war in the government is given priority to other things despite much talk about the Qatari and local mediation efforts. The situation worsens as there are political and ideological elements outside the country having their malicious plots to escalate tension between the conflicting parties. These elements appear to be promoting the Sa'ada war and marketing for it under the pretext that it is essential to strengthening and defending the national unity like what happened during the 1994 Civil War. They allege that defeating the other party in the 1994 war was a prerequisite for protecting the national unity and foiling all the secessionists' plots.
This destructive option was once tried by the authority, but it could not resolve the Sa'ada problem, as much as it helped the situation worsen and make the issue unsolvable by the military option. The case seems to be similar to the bad consequences, which the 1994 war left behind. In short, clashes can not be resolved by more wars.
Madmen! Another Sa'ada war means a national catastrophe that may transfer the crisis into the military and security institutions, as well as lead to fragmentation and factional conflicts.
Source: Al-Thawri Weekly
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[archive-e:1128-v:15-y:2008-d:2008-02-11-p:opinion]
