Shiite rebellion in Yemen raises concerns in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is concerned by the Shiite rebellion taking place just over the border in Yemen, prompting security officials from both countries to consult on the sudden flare-up in violence, Saudi officials said Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, a staunchly Sunni country with the world’s largest oil reserves, is worried about the rebels’ alleged links to Iran, the kingdom’s main regional foe which has established firm footholds in several Arab countries over the past few years.

It also fears that Al-Qaeda militants who have sought sanctuary in the impoverished nation will capitalize on the tense situation by smuggling fighters across the long and difficult-to-control Yemeni-Saudi border.

Because of the sensitivity of the issue, Saudi officials have been reluctant to give details on whether there is any cooperation, military or otherwise, between the kingdom and Yemen. One Saudi official said security officials from both countries are in touch over the violence in Saada Province.

He did not elaborate and spoke on condition of ano­ny­mity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Saudi and Yemeni news agencies earlier reported that King Abdullah sent an invitation to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who belongs to the same Zaidi Shiite sect as the rebels, to attend the September opening of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

Although the news agencies made no mention of the fighting, the invitation, sent at this crucial time, is perceived an indirect sign of support to the Yemeni government.

Ambassador Osama al-Nuggali, head of the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman’s office, told the Associated Press that Yemen’s stability is crucial.

“The events in Yemen are a matter of concern,” Nuggali told the Associated Press. “Yemen’s security and stability are important to the region and to neighboring countries, including Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The current round of fighting between the government and rebels is the sixth in five years.

The rebels, led by Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, complain that the government ignores their needs and has given too strong a voice in the country to Sunni extremists, advocating Saudi-influenced conservative Islam.

The radicals, who consider Shiites to be heretics, gained influence in Yemen after helping the government win the 1994 civil war with the secessionist south.

On Tuesday, Yemen’s Defense Ministry website said the Interior Ministry was seeking arrest warrants for 55 the Shiite rebel leaders.

A written request was made for the arrest of the suspects, including rebel leader Houthi, according to a list published by the 26sep.net website.

The ministry is asking that the suspects be arrested on charges of “armed rebellion, abduction and execution of civilians, destruction of property and attacks on government forces,” the report said.

Earlier in the day, sources said the rebels had attacked key government posts in Saada, the provincial capital of the northern province, but were repelled by the army.

Local officials said dozens of rebels were either killed or wounded in the pre-dawn assault while eight soldiers were injured. The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to give statements.

The head of security in Saada however denied that fighting had taken place in Saada. “Military operations are taking place far from the city,” General Hamid Karachi said in remarks carried by 26sep.net.

Meanwhile, the international Red Cross said on Monday that the fifteen Yemeni Red Crescent workers kidnapped last week by the Shiite rebels have been released.

The rebels took the Red Crescent doctors, nurses, officials and administrators from a refugee camp on Thursday, the governor of Saada Province said last week.

“They were only held for a few hours, the main thing that happened was that an ambulance was taken from them,” said a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. They were unhurt.

The Yemeni government has portrayed the rebels as a fundamentalist religious group supported by Iran.

On Tuesday, the Yemeni Ministry of Defense blamed the official Iranian media of “instigating and supporting the rebels,” and accused Iran of engaging in “dubious scheming.” The Saudi official, who did not want to be named, said Iran’s alleged involvement in Yemen is “no doubt troubling” and adds to its expanding presence in other Arab countries.

The latest violence in Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, threatens to further undermine Yemen’s weak government, which is also facing secessionists in the south, Al-Qaeda militants, poverty and pirate-infested seas.