Houthi rebels agree to join talks on Yemen's future

Shiite rebels, who control much of northern Yemen, will take part in talks aimed at resolving the country's multiple political conflicts, a Yemeni official involved in preparing for the negotiations says.

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SANAA // Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels, who control much of northern Yemen, said yesterday they will take part in talks aimed at resolving the country's political conflicts.

"We have agreed in principle to take part in the dialogue and we emphasise the need to create a good atmosphere so that the talks can be fruitful and lead to good results," said Mohammed Abdulsalam, spokesman for the rebels.

The rebels had previously refused to take part in the talks that are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council-backed transition deal that removed Yemen's longtime president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, from office this year.

Mr Saleh's replacement, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, last month formed a liaison committee to prepare for the national dialogue conference to be held in Cairo in August. Members of the liaison committee last week visited
Sada'a province, a stronghold of the Houthis, and met with their leader, Abdulmalik Al Houthi.

Nadia Al Sakkaf, the spokesman of the liaison committee, confirmed that the Houthis had agreed to take part in the dialogue and said it was an important step in the peace process.

Mr Abdulsalam said they discussed with the committee the need for a consensus among all parties involved in the dialogue.

A member of the committee told Reuters that the dialogue would include prominent figures of a secessionist movement in southern Yemen, formerly a separate state whose 1990 union with the north collapsed into civil war four years later.

He said members of the committee would next week meet the former president of South Yemen, Ali Nasser Mohammed.

At least 16 gunmen have been killed in three days of fighting between the Houthi rebels and Salafist extremists, according to claims by both sides yesterday.

"Four of our men were killed and six others wounded in confrontations on Saturday with Salafist gunmen in Al Qobaaf," east of Saada, Mr Abdulsalam said.

Sorur Aol Wadii, a spokesman for the Salafists, said 12 Sunni militants were killed in three days of fighting, but claimed that his comrades killed 18 Houthi fighters.

He blamed the Houthis for the clashes, saying the killings on "both sides were result of attacks by the Houthis who are trying to expand in the province of Hajja, Marib and Jawf".

Mr Abdulsalam accused the Sunni gunmen of receiving support from Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Salafism.

"We are in total control of the situation," he said, insisting that hostilities were started by a Salafist group "paid by Saudi Arabia".

Dozens of people have been killed in sectarian clashes since last year between the rebels and Salafists trying to tighten their grip on the north, where government control has slackened.

Also yesterday, the defence ministry said 23 Al Qaeda militants were killed in overnight fighting in two contested southern towns.

The government has claimed for weeks that it was on the verge of recapturing Zinjibar, the capital of the southern Abyan province, which fell to militants over a year ago, and that it is pushing on to the Al Qaeda stronghold of Jaar. But clashes in the two towns continue.

In the latest battles, the ministry reported intense battles between government troops backed by artillery in Zinjibar and nearby Qut that left 23 dead, including Pakistani and Somali nationals.Other fighting in the town of Jaar left 10 Al Qaeda fighters dead or injured, military officials said.

malqadhi@thenational.ae

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* With additional reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters