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Yemen blamed for rejecting peace with Shias
Yemeni Shia fighters have declared that they hold the government solely responsible for consequences of continuing the war in north after it rejected their truce offer. The Zaidi resistance fighters, also known as Houthis, offered a peace initiative to the Yemeni government late Monday to end the bloody clashes in Saada province and the surrounding areas. Houthis say their peace plan was based on humanitarian grounds to prevent more killings in the region. They added that their offer proves that they are determined to end the violence in Saada. "From now on the government will be faced with a prolonged war of attrition and should await surprised measures", said the office of Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, who heads the Shia group, in a Wednesday statement. It noted that the government "lost a valuable opportunity" by rejecting their truce offer. On Tuesday, the government dismissed Houthis' peace offer which called for reopening of roads and withdrawal of government troops to positions they held before the beginning of the latest military offensive against the Shia group, saying the only way to end the war was the acceptance of the government's six-term ceasefire plan set out two weeks ago. The government's conditions for ceasefire include Houthis' withdrawal from all districts of Saada and mountainous sites and the surrendering of military equipment they seized from the army. The Yemeni army has been fighting the Shia Zaidis in Saada and Amran provinces for three weeks. The offensive, involving air, artillery and tank strikes, has so far left hundreds of people killed and over 100,000 others displaced. While the Houthis say they are defending themselves against religious oppression, the government says it is fighting an armed insurgency seeking to reinstate imamate rule, which ended in a 1962 coup. Posted by: Fred 2009-09-03 |
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