Yemen Sees ‘Mounting Evidence’ Iran Is Arming Rebels

[oberliner]

Source: Bloomberg

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Yemen sees increasing evidence that Iran is arming Shiite Muslim rebels who seized territory on the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) border with Saudi Arabia, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said.

“There is mounting evidence but we are dealing with it very responsibly,” al-Qirbi said in an interview in Berlin today after meeting with German government officials. He declined to say what measures Yemen or its allies might take in response.

Yemen, a U.S. ally, has steered clear of directly accusing Iran’s government of providing weapons to the insurgents. The Yemeni authorities recently began investigating the matter after boarding an Iranian ship in Yemeni waters, he said. While no arms were found on board, they may already have been unloaded, al-Qirbi said.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, began air attacks on the Yemeni rebels earlier this month and fighting is continuing. Iran’s top general denounced the air strikes on Nov. 18 as the start of “state terrorism” that might have consequences for the entire Middle East. Shiite-led Iran is the main regional rival of Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=ard2Ka2_RO_g

[ixion]

1. Yemen, a U.S. ally and a dictatorship (effectively) doesn't have any credibility

in my opinion.

[oberliner]

5. Good point

But what is a reliable source of information regarding the situation in Yemen?

[ixion]

6. I used wikipedia

before I used the qualified term "dictatorship"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen

Yemen (Yaman) is a Presidential republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the constitution, an elected president, an elected 301-seat House of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The president is head of state, and the prime minister is head of government.

The constitution provides that the president be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates endorsed by at least fifteen members of the Parliament. The prime minister, in turn, is appointed by the president and must be approved by two thirds of the Parliament. The presidential term of office is seven years, and the parliamentary term of elected office is six years. Suffrage is universal for people age 18 and older.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh became the first elected President in reunified Yemen in 1999 (though he had been President of unified Yemen since 1990 and President of North Yemen since 1978). He was re-elected to office in September 2006. Although he stated his reluctance to run again, popular demonstrations and editorials offering support in major newspapers helped persuade him to run. Saleh's victory was marked by an election that international observers judged to be "partly free", though the election was accompanied by some violence, violations of press freedoms and allegations of fraud by the opposition.<7>

Any country that has had the same leader for the past 30+ years is effectively a dictatorship, no matter what type of government they claim to be.

[oberliner]

7. I mean what is a good source for what is happening there now?

Is there any English-language source that has info on this situation?

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

16. What source would you rely on for this type of information?

Considering how Iran is already backing Hezbollah and other groups, Yemen's claims aren't that difficult to buy.

[YOY]

2. Then I guess Yemen better do something about it.

Because I, for one, am getting really fucking sick of us fighting wars that make other people and countries rich.

They certainly have the money to do so.

[Sinti]

3. We've technically still got Iran in the pincers

and they have lots of oil. I wonder if they have a plan to build the fervor here to have a go at them. I would expect various trial balloons. The nuclear one didn't work so well. I wonder if the Yemeni and Saudi dictatorships will throw in a few grunts to help us liberate that resource - I'm sure we'd offer them a slice.

[David__77]

4. Too bad the direction things have gone in Yemen.

At a time, in south Yemen, a progressive government ruled - secular, oriented towards eradicating feudalism and freeing women. It's hard to believe how far things have gone backward here and in Afghanistan and some other places, victims of the West in the Cold War.

[oberliner]

10. When was this?

What government are you talking about?

[Alamuti Lotus]

14. reference the People's Democratic Republic of (South) Yemen 1967-1990

a socialist republic backed by Nasser and Russia. The area is still host to a very strong progressive seperatist/resistance force to the US-Saudi dictator.

[David__77]

18. Indeed, there is a progressive resistance in south Yemen worthy of support.

They want their homeland back, that has nothing in common with the theocratic "unified" republic into which they were cast.

The Yemeni Socialist Party is the only hope for the people there.

[bushmeister0]

8. The Saudi angle is what really worries me in this situation.

They've got billions in US supplied weapons systems but they can't fight worth a crap. If they manage to get themselves into trouble you-know-who is going to be called on to dig them out. We certainly can't allow al-Qeada or Iran, or whatever the administration decides to call the Yemani rebels, get close to our strategic oil supply.

[oberliner]

9. Saudi denies military entered Yemen: official

On Tuesday the Huthis, Zaidi Shiites locked in a five-year-old war with the Yemen government, said they had repelled a multi-pronged assault involving air raids and ground shelling launched by Saudi forces along the border on Monday.

"The Saudi attack continued on three fronts, but two were broken by Monday evening," it said.

"The attack on the third front continued until night, but was broken completely and the (Saudi) aggressors suffered heavy losses in men and materiel."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jz4vSl5JYeXlK4-CgQfOBWglDm1Q

[pundaint]

12. No problem

We'll make more and better weapons for the Saudi's and maybe employ some more Americans and help our balance of payments too.

Maybe if we curbed the amount of War on the market, the price would go up and fix our balance of payments. Then if the Saudi's or Yemeni's wanted some war we could make some serious jack and keep our women where they belong, because our women are just too sexy too.

[winyanstaz]

11. Iran is right to denounce bombings...

Sounds like there are people desperate to start a war....

[oberliner]

13. Who is desperate to start a war?

Are you talking about the Saudis or the Houthi rebel group or what?

[winyanstaz]

17. I am talking about the same players that are always starting wars...

If you havent figured out who they are yet...you are not doing your homework :)

[bhikkhu]

15. Everybody is arming everybody they can

...in the cynical opinion I've developed following wars in the region for decades. There's no plan for peace on any side, and it doesn't matter how many "rogue" nations you catch arming one side or another, because we're twice as busy arming our own favorite factions. The only winners are the arms manufacturers.

[oberliner]

19. Saudi 'seizes key rebel area'

Saudi Arabia says its forces have seized control of a strategic mountain along the border with Yemen in the kingdom's ongoing fight against Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Prince Khaled bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's defence and aviation assistant minister, told a local television station that Saudi forces cleared the peak, known as Jabal al-Dood, on Saturday.

Sultan was shown speaking at what appeared to be an area near the frontline, as the sound of artillery fire was heard in the background, the Reuters news agency reported.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/11/2009112981548306368.html