Yemen releases 428 Shiite rebels after Qatari mediation

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni authorities on Thursday released 428 detained members of a Shiite rebel group that had fought the national army for around five years in the north of the country, the rebels announced in a statement.

The Houthi group said in its emailed statement that it received 428 of its detained members and handed over to authorities 10 military vehicles in exchange.

It said Qatari mediators supervised the men's release and the military equipment handover.

Fierce battles between the rebels - known as Houthis after the family of their leaders - and army forces have left hundreds of soldiers and insurgents dead in five years of conflict that was halted with a peace accord in February.

Authorities have accused the rebels of trying to reinstall the rule of imams, which was toppled by a republican revolution in northern Yemen in 1962. The Houthis belong to the Zaidi sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360199,shiite-rebels-qatari-mediation.html.