Sa’ada crisis continues; Houthis want the army out [Archives:2007/1067/Front Page]
By: Mohammad bin Sallam
SA'ADA, July 11 – Reliable sources indicated that the Houthi insurgents handed over around 61 captives who are mainly army soldiers and recruits to the mediation committee as a gesture of good well and commitment to the ceasefire, and in also, according to media sources, to avoid the start of a new war.
However, the ceasefire agreement signed in Qatar's Doha did not tackle the issue of hostages and captives, especially as the military sources did not speak about any captives at the hands of Houthis during the five-month war with Houthis.
Ironically, many Yemeni families have reported the death of their solider family members and others deemed missing during the Sa'ada war, however, military sources continued to hold back any information about the number of army casualties during the war, especially as scores of soldiers fill the country's military hospitals and others returned home without informing the army's personnel command unit.
Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi announced last Monday that his followers abandoned 52 strategic sites in and around Sa'ada after clearing them from land mines which were planted during the war, including civilian houses and other locations. However, he also criticized the mediation committee supervising the ceasefire saying that the committee is still biased against them and overlooks all the positive steps and good deeds made by his followers, while busing itself with fulfilling the wishes of the state.
Al-Houthi denounced the new military assaults after the ceasefire targeting some areas and villages from which his followers evacuated such as Haydan district, Shalal area in Hajjah. It did not also meet the demands of the citizens who asked the army to leave their houses and farms in Al-Qubah, Bani Muath and other areas.
He also pointed out that his followers have deserted their positions in Kittaf, Al-Safra, Ghamer, Qataber, Magz, Saqeen districts. They have mostly deserted their positions in Sahar district among other locations, noting the continuous firing by the army and not handing over the farms and houses prevented them from implementing the agreement.
Moreover, Al-Houthi commended the good offices and efforts exerted by Qatari brothers to stop the bloodshed. He further criticized the frigidity of the Joint Meeting Parties, asking them to exert more efforts for halting the war on Sa'ada residents and Yemeni people, accusing the authority of sidelining the parties and organizations.
Other sources mentioned the Qatari delegations started to lose hope especially with the sluggishness in implementing the ceasefire agreement especially on the part of the army, as hundreds of Houthi fighters returned back to their villages by the first day of truce; however, most of them found their houses either destroyed or still captured by the army.
According to commentators and opposition personalities, the committee in supervision of the ceasefire agreement concentrates on implementing the articles according to their order in the agreement, however, it seems that Houthis are the only party who should stick to the agreement while overlooking other considerations aiming to enhance trust among both warring parties.
Several human rights organizations criticized those supervising the ceasefire agreement because they gave little attention to the issue of the displaced and arrested people or those whose houses were destroyed.
26 September.net, the spokes media of the Yemen Armed Forces, denied what was said by Houthis as for descending the mountains or their positions, hinting Houthis were driven out of these positions during the battles with the army and before the embarkation of the truce.
It called upon Houthis to hand over their arms and desert their mountainous positions to prove their good will. The mountains mentioned by the site include Azan, Al-Madawarah, Al-Hamra, Al Ghubair, Grayah, Al-Ahrash, Al-Malaqat, and Al-Sawda.
Furthermore, the site spoke of other positions in Tabt Suliman, Sheikh Al-Ahmer farm, Akhmas checkpoint, Al-Masna'ah, Ausilah, Jrouf Duhaim, Qahrat Alanz, Nashour, Al-Rakibah Montain, Qahr Al-Adhal, Dal'an Mountain, Matarah, Al-Abqur, Al-Sayaghi, Rahwan, Naqah, and Fard mountains in the north, north west and eastern Sa'ada city.
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