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Yemeni rebels say they'll leave Saudi Arabia if attacks end
Yemeni Shiite rebels are willing to withdraw from Saudi territory in exchange for an end to cross-border attacks by the Saudi military, a rebel spokesman said on Wednesday. "We are prepared to withdraw from sites if ... Saudi Arabia does not attack any one of us from its territory," said the rebel spokesman, Mohammad Abdel-Salam. On Tuesday, Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan gave Yemeni rebels, who are known as Houthis, the name of their leader, 24 hours to withdraw from the border village of Al-Jabiri. "They have 24 hours to surrender, or we will destroy them," he said. The rebels mocked the ultimatum in a statement on their website late on Tuesday, asking why Saudi forces had not already moved against the village. "The question is: what have you been doing these past days?" the statement said. The rebels' spokesman said their key grievance against Saudi Arabia was the kingdom's decision to allow the Yemeni army to use its territory against their positions, a charge that Riyadh denies. "We believe that the essence of the problem with Saudi Arabia is not land or borders, for we faced Yemeni aggression from Saudi Arabia," Salam said. "We entered Saudi territory in response to Saudi aggression against Yemen, by its air force and through ground attacks in Saada [province]," he added. "All we ask for is good neighborly relations." Fighting between Saudi forces and the rebels kicked off on November 3, when the kingdom accused the rebels of killing a border guard and occupying two villages in its territory. Saudi jets began bombing rebel positions in the area the following day. Posted by: Fred 2009-12-28 |
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