Yemen demands Houthis accept six-point plan before ceasefire

By Faisal Darem in Sanaa
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-02-01

[AFP/Getty Images] Yemen troops fire on Houthi positions in Saada province on January 31st.

Yemen officials announced Sunday (January 31st) that the government will not stop military operations against Houthi rebels unless they fully accepted a six-point pledge including not to attack Saudi Arabia and to free kidnapped Yemenis and Saudis.

In an audio recording Saturday, insurgent leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announced his acceptance of "five points" set down by the Yemeni government to stop. "I announce acceptance of the five points, but after the cessation of hostility," al-Houthi said. "The ball is now in the other side's court."

But Yemeni officials want the rebels to respect all six points stipulated by the government in August 2009. The National Defence Council in Yemen confirmed this aim during a meeting headed by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday to discuss a response to al-Houthi's declaration.

The six points call on the rebels to respect the ceasefire and open the roads; evacuate the official directorates they occupied; surrender their weapons and return ammunition and equipment; release civilian and military detainees; respect the Constitution and the law; and pledge not to attack Saudi Arabia's territory and hand over the Yemenis and Saudis they abducted without delay.

"The rebels were the first to attack, and they ignited six wars, from the first war in 2004 until the sixth war on August 11th last year," Major General Mohammed Abdullah Al-Qawsy, first undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior and the field commander for military operations against Houthi rebels, told al-Shorfa.

"Houthi's declaration of acceptance of the five points is a confirmation of the defeats and losses incurred by the terrorist elements on all fronts at the hands of the heroes in the armed forces and security," Al Qawsy said. "I am certain of the rebels' falsehoods, and since he has declared his acceptance, he must proceed forthwith with implementation."

Al-Qawsy said that during sweeps made by the troops in a number of the old neighbourhoods in Saada, the rebels continued shouting their chants and slogans, refusing to surrender even after their leader's announcement to stop the war and accept the conditions.

"Houthi's initiative, and his announcement regarding a withdrawal from Saudi territory, is only to buy time and wait for instructions from their supporters the Hawzat [in Iran]," Al-Qawsy said. "The ball is in the Houthi rebels' court, and they must implement the declared points in order for government forces to halt military operations against them."

Last week, al-Houthi declared a ceasefire with Saudi Arabia and offered to withdraw his group's remaining fighters from the kingdom. Al-Houthi, who made the offer in an audio recording posted on the group's website, called the offer a "positive one". He warned, however, that if Saudi Arabia did not take up his offer to let his fighters return home, then it would mean "open war on many fronts".

Tariq Shami, head of the Press Bureau of the ruling General People Congress party, criticised al-Houthi's exclusion of the Saudi issue.

"His treating the Saudi issue as an independent entity is unacceptable, and his acceptance of the five points requires that he be subject to the Constitution and the law," Shami told Al-Shorfa. "I consider al-Houthi's initiative merely a media stunt that is not serious and a repetition of stunts he uttered previously."

"If the insurgency continues the military operations will continue, and this is what was observed on Sunday, with renewed clashes with rebels, both with government forces at the centre of Saada and Harf Sufian, and a Saudi source's announcement of renewed clashes on the Saudi-Yemeni border," he said.

Yemen military officials said that clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis left 24 fighters dead on Sunday.

Successive wars between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels have left thousands dead and displaced nearly 200,000 people, according to figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

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