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| Arabia |
| Rebels prevent govt troops from deploying at Saudi border |
| 2010-02-22 |
| Shiite rebels prevented Yemeni government troops from deploying along the Saudi border on Saturday in defiance of the terms of a ceasefire, said a member of a committee established to oversee the truce. "Deployment of the army along the border is making no headway because of the rebel refusal to conform to the terms of the ceasefire" agreed last week to end six months of fighting, said the source. "Rather than dismantle their positions to permit the army deployment, they have simply redeployed those positions in the region of Malahidh," in Saada province, said the source. On Thursday, ceasefire monitors had said the army could begin taking up positions along the border on Saturday if demining operations were completed. The Zaidi rebels, also known as Houthis, announced their withdrawal from the border area on Tuesday. Riyadh has said it would only halt military operations against the rebels if Yemeni troops were able to secure their side of the rugged border. Saudi Arabia joined the fighting in November, accusing the rebels of killing a border guard and occupying two villages inside Saudi territory. Yemen has accused the rebels of seeking to restore the Zaidi Shiite imamate that ruled in Sanaa until its overthrow in a 1962 republican coup that sparked eight years of civil war. |
| Posted by:Fred |