...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
group and the party of the former president have on Wednesday accepted a peace plan brokered by the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
in talks in Oman, paving the way for resuming negotiations to end months of conflict in the country.
Both groups said on Wednesday that they had officially notified UN chief
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon that they were ready to join talks on a settlement based on a seven-point peace plan proposed by the UN in talks in Oman last month.Aid agencies and the UN have raised alarm over the human cost of the war, both from fighting that has claimed over 5,000 lives and from a blockade by the Saudi-led coalition that they say has brought Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
close to famine.
Citing allegations of war crimes, the rights group
In his letter dated October 3, Houthi front man Mohammed Abdul-Salam confirmed that his group and others allied to it backed the seven-point plan.
"The Security Council supports a political settlement for the Yemen crisis and the return to the talks with no preconditions, and so do we," the letter added.
Former 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...
's General People's Congress (GPC) party also accepted the plan.
"An official source at the General People's Congress reiterated the party's fast position on ending hostilities and raising the blockade and on a peaceful solution to Yemen's crisis," it said in a statement.
The Saudi-led coalition and exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi regard Saleh as a spoiler trying to undermine a political accord that allowed him to step down following months of protests in 2011.
Hadi had previously refused a UN invitation to peace talks in the region, demanding that the Houthis publicly accept the UN Security Council resolution.
In its report, Amnesty said: "Damning evidence of war crimes by the Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
-led coalition, which is armed by states including the USA, highlights the urgent need for independent, effective investigation of violations and for the suspension of transfers of certain arms."
It urged an end to the sale of warplanes, helicopters and bombs, especially internationally-banned cluster bombs.
Spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not immediately respond to a Rooters request for comment.
Gulf-backed forces have in recent weeks pushed the Houthis and Saleh's forces out of Yemen's second city Aden and retaken swathes of the south.