10 al Houthi rebels sentenced to death

Mohammed al Qadhi, Foreign Correspondent

• Last Updated: October 21. 2009 12:28AM UAE / October 20. 2009 8:28PM GMT

SANA’A // Yemen’s state security court yesterday sentenced 10 al Houthi militants to death for taking part in battles against government forces near the capital last year. Five were sentenced to 15 years in jail.

“The defendants are guilty of forming an armed gang to fight against security forces in Bani-Hushaish district … the well-trained gang manipulated religion, carried out sabotage acts meant to disrupt the peace, stability and unity of the country and declared armed rebellion against the ruling regime,” Muhsein Allwan, the judge, said. The Bani Hushaish neighbourhood is about 30km north of Sana’a.

The convicts had planned their attacks with light and heavy weaponry, ammunition and explosives, the judge said, before they barricaded Bani Hushaish. They killed a large number of army and security personnel and citizens, including women and children.

Upon hearing the verdict, the convicts shouted: “God is great”, “Death to America”, “Death to Israel” and “Curse upon the Jews, victory for Islam”. The convicts are associated with those fighting the army in the northern province of Sa’ada and in the Harf Sufian district of neighbouring Amran province.

Thirteen of the convicts, dressed in blue uniforms and handcuffed, refused to appeal against the verdict because they do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the court and its trial procedures.

Abdullah al Kibsi, who was handed a death sentence, said in an interview: “The court and the trial are not legitimate because the government is an agent to Israel and the US. They [the government] want us to stop chanting our motto ‘death to America and death to Israel’ … The US is fighting against us in Iraq and Palestine.” Yahia Hussein al Hamdani, a defence lawyer for two of the group members, appealed against the verdict, however, describing it as “unjust”.

“This is an unfair verdict. My clients are innocent and have nothing to do with al Houthi,” Mr al Hamdani said.

The convicts are among 190 rebel fighters captured by security forces during the clashes in Bani-Hushaish that erupted in May 2008 and that had gone on for about three months. They are being tried in groups.

On Saturday the same court sentenced two people to death and 10 to jail terms ranging from one year to 12 years. Seven of the group were sentenced to death in July and two received death sentences last year. Not one has appealed against the verdict and none has been executed.

The government said 40 members of the al Houthi revolt were expected to stand trial soon.

Fierce fighting continues between the army and al Houthi insurgents in Sa’ada and Harf Sufian, with scores reported killed or injured on both sides in gun battles on Monday, according to local sources.

The government launched a massive operation on August 11 against the rebels, who have been fighting an intermittent war for more than five years. Al Houthi rebels belong to the Zaidi offshoot of Shia Islam.

The army said yesterday that 14 rebels were killed and dozens surrendered in battles in Razeh and other areas. The army also said it destroyed four strongholds of al Houthi fighters, but no number was given.

A security official ridiculed al Houthi accusations that troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia shot at a northern border district in support of the Yemeni army in its attacks against them.

“Such accusation and fabrications are groundless … this comes from desperate attempts of the terrorists and saboteurs to involve the brothers in Saudi Arabia in what is happening in Sa’ada,” the unnamed source was quoted by the state-run Saba news agency as saying.

For their part, the rebels said in a statement distributed via e-mail that they took control of a military airport in Razeh on Monday and all the weaponry and checkpoints in the surrounding areas.

Such reports could not be verified from independent sources. Both Sa’ada and Harf Sufian are closed to the media.

The government accuses the rebels of wanting to restore the imamate overthrown in the 1962 revolution and of being supported by parties in Iran. Al Houthis accuse the Saudis of supporting the government and the Saudi air force of taking part in the pounding of Sa’ada, an accusation Sana’a denies.

The Zaidis, a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen, for centuries formed the ruling elite in its mountain heartlands. Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, is a Zaidi.

In addition to the insurgency in the north, Yemen is also facing a growing secessionist uprising in the south, the threat of al Qa’eda presence, plus economic hardships including depletion of oil and water resources.

malqadhi@thenational.ae