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12 Killed in Yemen Salafists-Zaidi Clashes
[An Nahar] Twelve people were killed in renewed festivities between Shiite Zaidi rebels and Salafists...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... in northern Yemen on Saturday, the second straight day of bloodshed, tribal sources said. They died in fierce fighting in the streets of Reda in Amran province, some 80 kilometers north of the capital Sanaa, witnesses said, adding that few residents ventured out because of the festivities. "Eight men from Sunni tribes were killed and 11 maimed in the fighting," a tribal source told Agence La Belle France Presse, while a Shiite rebel source spoke of "four dead and nine maimed among the Zaidi ranks." Saturday's corpse count was earlier put at eight, a day after another Salafist was reported killed. Witnesses said Zaidi rebels shelled a mosque in Reda on Saturday morning and also blew up a Koranic school. Fighting still raged in the afternoon. The confrontations first broke out as Salafists and rustics tried to prevent a Zaidi protest against administrative appointments in their regions. The two sides, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, brought in reinforcements and the situation was tense in the city, witnesses said. Residents said tensions escalated after the appointment of supporters of the Islamist party al-Islah to head Yemen's northern provinces, a move rejected by the Zaidis. The festivities come ahead of a national dialogue scheduled for later this year as part of a political agreement that led to the February departure of president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... following a year of unrest. Zaidi rebels have indicated they would take part in the dialogue. Dozens of people have been killed since last year in sectarian festivities between the rebels and Sunni Salafists trying to tighten their grip on northern Yemen, in the absence of government control. Zaidis make up a minority in the Sunni-majority country. Posted by: Fred 2012-09-23 |
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