Yemen rebel group asks government to free 1,000 detained members

Sana'a, Yemen - A Shiite rebel group that fought the national army in northern Yemen for more than five years called upon the government Friday to free around 1,000 members of the group captured during the conflict that ended in February.

Yemen's government and the rebels, called Houthis after the family of their leaders, reached a peace agreement on February 11, ending fighting that has raged on and off since mid-2004.

"There are around 1,000 men still being detained by authorities," the rebel group's spokesman Muhammed Abdul-Salam said in a telephone interview.

"We urge the government to respect the ceasefire agreement and free all the detainees," Abdul-Salam said.

He said the group has released "all the military men" captured by its members during the last wave of fighting, which began last August in Saada province, along the border with Saudi Arabia.

On March 16, the group released 178 captured government soldiers.

Houthis claim discrimination by the majority Sunni population in Yemen, while Yemeni authorities accuse them of trying to reinstall Shiite religious rule, which was overthrown in 1962.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/320300,yemen-rebel-group-asks-government-to-free-1000-detained-members.html.