Why Houthis hold the power in Yemen

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SANAA // Yemen may claim to have a new government but it is clear who is calling the shots.

The Houthi rebels, who overran Sanaa in September, have taken up key positions in government ministries, installed themselves in the country’s main financial institions and taken control of the most important transport hubs.

The rebels, a group with roots in the Shiite Zaidi sect, had promised to withdraw thousands of fighters from the capital as part of a ceasefire deal signed with the government on September 21.

The Houthis, widely accused of being backed by Iran, demanded a new government that better represented the group and president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi swore in new ministers on November 9. However, there is no sign that the rebels are preparing to relinquish control of government buildings.

http://www.thenational.ae/world/yemen/why-houthis-hold-the-power-in-yemen

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1. Iran: All Set To Dominate Middle East

The Middle East is currently the arena for a cross-border sectarian war. The weakening or collapse of repressive regimes has unleashed a fierce war for succession between rival populations, with Shia and Sunni Arabs the main protagonists. This process is playing itself not only in Iraq and Syria but in almost all the countries of the region. The regional rivalry between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia is being intensified. The Iranians are the central pillar of the united and cohesive Shia-dominated bloc which includes the Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and its allies, the government of Iraq and the Shia militias in that country. The Saudis are now the main force seeking to stem the Iranian advance. The anti-western Turkey-Qatar-Muslim Brotherhood alliance is also an important element on the Sunni side. But now Iran is gaining the upper hand in the Sunni-Shia rift. Iran got another victory in spreading its influence in the region. The Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen has made very significant gains in recent weeks, largely ignored by the western media. With this development Iran has reached to the gates of the Sunni powerhouse of Saudi Arabia.

After Iraq and Syria the events in Yemen ought to concern the west because they demonstrate once again the skill and determination of the Iranians in the game that matters most right now in the Middle East. The Houthi militia, which has been engaged in an insurgency against the government of Yemen since 2004, launched an offensive in September. The movement’s fighters advanced rapidly entered the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. The Shia militia then announced an ultimatum to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, giving him 10 days to form a new government that would include representation for the Houthis or face unspecified other options. Now at this point in time Iran has considerable influence on four Arab capitals i.e. Damascus, Sana’a, Baghdad, and Beirut through the government of these states or through its proxies. This ability to develop and maintain proxy political-military forces has been an asset in Iranian hands since the birth of the Islamic Republic with the Lebanese Hezbollah the first fruit of it. Teheran appears currently to be repeating this process in Iraq, where brutal Shia militias are playing an ever more important role in the fight against the Islamic State. In Yemen, a similar dynamic is emerging and Syria since long Iranian controlled militia’s operating. Even United States has started believing that stable Middle East can only be achieved by having Iran on board. The United States is anxious to restore the Iraqi government’s authority in oil-rich Iraq, while Iran is eager to defeat a murderously anti-Shiite militia on its western flank so by seeing a common objective for both US and Iran. Recently US President Barack Obama wrote a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei in this letter president Mr. Obama talked about the expansion of the Islamic State posed a threat to both the United States and Iran and said the two countries were battling a common enemy.

http://www.khaama.com/iran-all-set-to-dominate-middle-east-8764

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2. Yemen Shi'ites capture key district from al Qaeda, 35 people dead

SANAA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Yemeni Shi'ite Muslim Houthi fighters backed by government forces drove the local wing of al Qaeda from one of its last strongholds in central Yemen on Friday in intense fighting that killed at least 35 people, tribal sources said.

The Houthis' Ansarullah movement has become the main political force in Western-allied Yemen since capturing Sanaa in September and then pushing south and west into the Sunni Muslim heartland of al-Bayda province, where Ansar al-Sharia has allied itself with local tribes.

Yemen has been in turmoil since 2011, to the dismay of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and of the Western powers who want to prevent instability in the Arabian peninsula threatening their crude supplies or giving al Qaeda a base for overseas attacks.

Tribal sources said the Houthis had met stiff resistance as they pushed towards the village of Khobza district using Katuysha rockets and heavy artillery.

http://www.trust.org/item/20141114153723-1rsl4/

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3. Houthis gain ground against Yemen's al-Qaeda

At least 50 Houthi fighters were killed in the latest clashes, Al Jazeera has learnt, but the armed group says it is now in control of Khobza, an area of Radaa previously held by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the capital Sanaa on Friday, said the battles were continuing, with al-Qaeda fighters calling for reinforcements.

"The Houthis say they will continue their fight until al-Qaeda is defeated or evicted from these areas," he said.

"They still have a strong presence in the capital, but they say when they see a strong military presence they will leave the city."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/11/houthis-gain-ground-against-yemen-al-qaeda-20141114142428804955.html

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4. Yemen’s a Model All Right—For Disaster

Remember the so-called “Yemen model,” the seeming success story for a U.S. policy targeting terrorists that President Barack Obama pointed to a few months ago? Well, it’s not a model anyone would want to point to anymore.

While the world’s attention has been focused on the atrocities and momentum of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Yemen is teetering on the verge of an all out sectarian civil war. And that’s not the worst of it: the lessons that should have been learned in Yemen, and that ought to apply in the fight against ISIS, have been largely ignored.

As the U.S. administration ought to have understood, and the new Congress must try to comprehend, guns and drones don’t solve these problems and they’re not even very effective at slowing them down. What’s needed is a much broader long-term strategy genuinely committed to the the development of good governance and economic and political opportunity. These are not easy goals to achieve, in fact they are extremely difficult, but let’s look at the alternative.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/13/yemen-s-a-model-alright-for-disaster.html

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5. Yemen crisis worsens

Two main groups have refused the 36-member government formed earlier this week in Yemen after the UN Security Council sanctioned three leaders of these groups as spoilers.

The two groups have plans to overthrow the government regardless of the sanctions, after they were excluded from the government.

President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi formed the government after all groups authorised him to do so, including the Houthi group and Saleh Party that now refuse the government.

Saleh Party has refused to participate in the government and announced an official alliance with the Houthi group, which is now controlling almost all the provinces of the north by force of arms.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/7731/19/Yemen-crisis-worsens-.aspx