Yemen Controls Rebel Stronghold 

Khaled Al-Mahdi

Arab News

SANAA, 13 April 2005 — Yemen said yesterday its troops had taken control of rebel strongholds after weeks of deadly clashes with supporters of a slain cleric in the country’s north.

“The confrontations have practically ended since last Wednesday,” President Ali Abdullah Saleh told reporters, adding that government troops controlled rebel areas.

At least 170 security forces and followers of Hussein Al-Houthi have been killed in the violence which erupted on March 19.

Al-Houthi was killed last September along with at least 200 rebels after two months of fighting with state troops. The government blames Al-Houthi’s father, Badruddin, for the new round of fighting.

“They (rebels) are outlaws with no political weight and do not pose any threat to Yemen’s unity,” said the president.

Yemen says Al-Houthi’s armed group is trying to install religious rule and is preaching violence against the United States. The group is not linked to Al-Qaeda.

Authorities have detained around 800 suspected followers and have shut unregistered schools run by the group.

Yemen has joined the US-led war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It has cracked down on Al-Qaeda-linked operatives following attacks at home, including the 2000 USS Cole bombing and the 2002 attack on the French supertanker Limburg.