MP Al-Houthi calls on president to abandon Sa’ada War [Archives:2006/957/Local News]

SANA'A, June 21 ) Member of Parliament Yahya Al-Houthi has accused the Sana'a regime of endeavoring to impose Salafi mosque preachers on Sa'ada governorate residents by distributing such preachers in area mosques.

In a June 19 message to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a copy of which the Yemen Times received, Al-Houthi stated, “The war being waged these days on Al-Awasijah in Haidan in Sa'ada is the reason Al-Awasijah refused to listen to speeches of those accusing others of infidelity,” according to his account.

From his residence in Germany, Al-Houthi said the chases, confiscations and arrests still are continuing in Sa'ada and there are prisoners from Al-Jawf and Amran. He added that the authority is seeking by force of arms to compel Sa'ada inhabitants to discard their religious sect and embrace the Salafi sect. He considers the Sa'ada War a racist and sectarian one against the Zaidi sect and its followers and attributes its continuation to an influx of money.

The parliamentarian also said President Saleh promised to handle the Sa'ada War himself, saying that he didn't need the governorate's governor or any others and that he wants military termination.

Al-Houthi mentioned that armed forces units on June 19 actually attacked “our people in Farn Bin Zaid by using army tanks, armored vehicles and troops in the south of Haidan city, but our people there managed to repel the attack and destroy a military group, inflicting direct hits on the attacking soldiers, despite what the official media has propagated that the Sa'ada War ended and prisoners were released.” He said this was just a cover to avoid international pressure.

At the end of his message Al-Houthi said, “I call on the president to stop the war because it's just destruction for the people and increases their suffering. I also call on him for genuine peace.”
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