Yemen rebels advise Saudi to remain impartial

Zaidi rebels accuse oil-rich kingdom of allowing Yemeni army to use its base in Jabal al-Dukhan.

SANAA - Shiite Zaidi rebels in northern Yemen on Monday accused Saudi Arabia of allowing Yemeni forces to use its territory to attack rebel strongholds near the border.

Saudi authorities have "allowed Yemeni army to use a Saudi base in Jabal al-Dukhan from which it launched attacks," the rebels said in an emailed statement.

"We advise the Saudi regime to remain impartial and not allow the Yemeni army to use its territories to attack us, because we would be otherwise forced to retaliate," it added.

The rebels said the alleged Saudi green light amounted to a "flagrant aggression and dangerous intervention."

A Yemeni official swiftly dismissed the charge as "mere fabrications that have always been repeated by the rebels."

"They are trying to bring Saudi Arabia into the problem ... Jabal al-Dukhan is a Yemeni area," he said, asking not to be named.

It is not the first time that Zaidi rebels, also known as Huthis, accuse neighboring Saudi Arabia of aiding the Yemeni army, which launched an all-out offensive on the rebels' stronghold in the Saada region on August 11.

Last month they accused the Saudi forces of firing across the border.

Riyadh has in the past denied the charges.

The Sanaa government, for its part, accuses Shiite Iran of backing the rebels. It announced last week the seizure of five Iranians on a boat loaded with arms in the Red Sea that it said was destined to the rebels.

Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in the ongoing clashes, and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes, resulting in a humanitarian crisis complicated by a dire shortage of food and other basic necessities.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35445.