Tens of thousands in Yemen Shiite protest

[Ars Moriendi]

The protesters are taking it one step further by deciding to camp in front of Ministries, following the pattern set by the protesters in Tahrir Square, and more recently those of Maidan.

Yemen's Shiite-Rebel Group Escalate Standoff
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ndoff-25084163

Spoiler!

Thousands of supporters of Yemen's powerful Shiite rebel group escalated their standoff with the government on Friday, setting up tents near three ministries to press for the replacement of a prime minister they depict as "manipulated" by their rival Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

In their fifth day of street rallies in the capital and across the country, tens of thousands of supporters of the Hawthi group —who adhere to a Shiite branch of Islam — marched and waved banners carrying a mix of religious, political and economic themes. One painted in red read "death to America, death to Israel," while others denounced the recent lifting of fuel subsidies, which the president has defended as a badly needed economic reform.

The Hawthis waged a six-year insurgency in the north against former Yemeni Leader Ali Abdullah Saleh that officially ended in 2010. After Saleh's ouster, they fought ultraconservative Islamists in several northern cities and towns, accusing them of turning their strongholds into incubators of extremism.

In a televised speech late Thursday, Hawthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi described the protest as a "revolution" and rejected what he described as attempts to paint his supporters' demonstrations as sectarian.

In another speech broadcast Friday, al-Hawthi denounced foreign intervention in Yemen by the United States and other western countries, which earlier this week urged the Hawthis to end their protest movement and described it as "antagonistic, militaristic and disrespectful."

"America and the west seek nothing but serve their own interests not the interest of Yemen," he told protesters.

When demonstrations started Tuesday, al-Hawthi threatened to "escalate" them if the government did not resign by Friday. The country's highest security body, the Supreme Security Committee, said Hawthi militiamen had deployed on rooftops and armed convoys were streaming to the capital from their northern strongholds.

The tension over the government has been simmering for months after critics alleged that Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Bassindwa is too weak and too close to the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Islah party, inside the government. Critics also blame Bassindwa for deteriorating security and economic conditions.

On several occasions Hawthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam has described Bassindwa as a "tool in the hands of the Islah party."

After defeating Islah's affiliated militias in northern Yemen, analysts believe that Hawthis are using the latest price hikes and popular anger to push for representation inside the government, where they are currently excluded.

Meanwhile, a Yemeni official with a presidential commission formed to try to resolve the standoff said from the Hawthi stronghold city of Saada that an agreement had been reached for a government reshuffle, with discussions ongoing over whether to form a technocrat or national unity government where all political factions and groupings are fairly represented.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The current government was formed as part of a US- Arab backed plan to ease Saleh out of power after a yearlong uprising in 2011. Islamists and leftist parties now hold half of the cabinet portfolios while the rest are in the hands of Saleh's former party. Yemen is now drafting a new constitution which should be followed by parliamentary elections, but a date for the vote has yet to be set.

Yemen, one of the Arabs world's poorest nations, is facing multiple challenges. Besides the northern rebel movement, the government is battling the world's most dangerous al-Qaida offshoot in the south, which also faces a separate secessionist movement.

[Ars Moriendi]

It seems the Houthis are on the verge of succeeding. The government in Sanaa offered yesterday to surrender, just like the protesters said it would.
Remains to be seen what happens next.

-------

Yemen government offers to resign to end Houthi protests - source

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/0...0GN06M20140823

Images of the Protests

Spoiler!

(Reuters) - Yemen's government offered on Saturday to resign within a month and to review an unpopular decision to cut fuel subsidies, in an attempt to end protests by the Shi'ite Houthi movement, a government source told Reuters.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis massed in the capital Sanaa on Friday in a protest called by the Houthis to demand the government's resignation and a reversal of the subsidy cuts.

The rally came at the end of a week of demonstrations that have piled pressure on President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has struggled to keep order in the U.S.-allied country which borders major oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

The source, who is from Yemen's presidential committee, said officials had handed to the Houthis a draft proposal that includes an offer to form a new government within a month and to set up an economic committee to review the fuel subsidy issue.

"This proposal will take effect in exchange for the Houthis removing their camps from Sanaa, they can either respond or leave the capital if negotiations fail," said the source.

There was no immediate response to the offer from the Houthis, who have been fighting for years for more power for their Zaydi Shi'ite Muslim sect in north Yemen.

However another source from the presidential committee told Reuters that they had received a positive response from the Houthis and would hold a final meeting with them later on Saturday.

"We will meet with them again tonight and the signing of agreement will be tomorrow morning," said the source.

Public anger over the subsidy cuts has helped bring people onto the streets, demanding participation in a future government as the majority Sunni country moves towards a federal system that devolves more power to regions.

On Friday, the movement set up tents near the interior, telecommunications and electricity ministries in a side street that leads to Sanaa's airport, saying they would stay until their demands were met.

Yemenis are unhappy about the government's decision in late July to cut energy subsidies to reduce its budget deficit, a move which led to a rise in fuel prices.

The government spent about $3 billion on subsidies last year, nearly a third of state revenues.

A previous attempt to cut subsidies, in 2005, led to unrest that left about 20 people dead and more than 200 wounded. The reform was cancelled.

(Reporting by Mohamed Ghobari; Writing by Amena Bakr; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

------------

It's quite likely that the federalization of Yemen will be the next objective, transforming the majority of provinces north of Sanaa (Amran, Saada and Al Jawf, just to name a few) into an unofficial stronghold for the Houthis, somewhat similar to the situation of south Lebanon under Hezbollah.

[Ars Moriendi]

The situation is deteriorating rapidly in Yemen, seeing as the talks have failed and the government has refused to step down.

The Houthis have vowed to escalate their protests, while the Yemeni president has openly accused Iran of destabilizing the country. The GCC's joint leadership has scheduled a meeting for next Saturday to assess the situation in Sanaa.

Yemen Shiite rebels rally in Sanaa and vow 'escalation'
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/yemen-shii...3.html#7WnNI7q

Spoiler!

Tens of thousands of supporters of Yemen's Shiite rebels demonstrated in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday, threatening escalation which their leader vowed would be "painful", an AFP correspondent reported.

"The people want the government out," chanted protesters gathered in Sanaa's northern district, shunning a plea by President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi on Tuesday for the rebels to disperse.

"We will not back away. Our people will step up the pressure," they called out, waving flags of the General People's Congress -- the party still headed by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The protesters, rallying on a road leading to Sanaa airport, brandished portraits of Syria's embattled president Bashar al-Assad and of Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Shiite Lebanese militia Hezbollah, an AFP correspondent said.

Shiite rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi on Tuesday threatened a "third phase of escalation", pledging it will be "more painful and worrying" to authorities.
Three days of talks last week between authorities and the Zaidi Shiite rebels, known as Huthis or Ansarullah, failed to reach a deal to end the impoverished country's latest political impasse.
Huthi's followers want the resignation of the government they accuse of corruption, the cancellation of a recent fuel price rise and a broader political partnership.
The rebels have mobilised armed fighters camped out around Sanaa for the past week, while civilian activists have staged a sit-in near the interior ministry inside the capital.

Huthi announced last Friday the start of the "second phase" of escalation during which his supporters set up camps on the road where several ministries are located.
The fresh threats came after President Hadi urged Huthi on Tuesday to withdraw his militant followers from the capital following the failure of the negotiations.

UN special envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar has said the situation is "very worrying" and warned all sides that "a way out of the crisis is through concerted and peaceful effort".
The impoverished country has been locked in a protracted transition since long-time strongman Saleh was forced from power in February 2012 after a deadly 11-month uprising.

Yemen's President Blames Iran for Inciting Conflict
http://www.voanews.com/content/yemen...n/2431178.html

Spoiler!

CAIRO—
Yemen's president is accusing Iran of provoking current unrest in his country as Shi'ite Houthi rebels advance on the capital Sana'a. Fighting overnight north of the capital reportedly killed 11 people.

A number of casualties were reported in fighting between the rebels and government forces in Jawf province overnight. It was part of a series of low-level clashes between Yemen's army and the Zaidi Shi'ite forces under Abdel Malik al Houthi who are moving toward Sana'a.

Yemen's President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi is blaming Iran for inciting the conflict. He claimed in a statement that Iran was trying to “trade Sana'a for the Syrian capital, Damascus,” a reference to Iranian support for Syria's Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.

A meeting between the Yemeni president and representatives of the rebels originally scheduled for Thursday was postponed by 48 hours. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss the current conflict in Yemen on Friday.

Rebel leader Abdel Malik al Houthi demanded this week that the government resign and a new government be appointed. He also insisted that the government back down on a recent decision to raise fuel prices.

Hakim Almasmari, editor-in-chief of the Yemen Post newspaper, tells VOA the Houthi rebels are trying to assert themselves as the most powerful political force in Yemen.

"We could easily say that 20 percent of the Yemenis right now support the Houthis and that's a very big majority, The Houthis are attempting to be the main force in the country, not to take power," Almasmari said. "They will not invade Sana'a, but their main obligation and their main goal is to ensure that they control the policy making of Yemen."

Almasmari says it's known that Iran is helping the Houthis, but notes the rebels are indigenous Yemenis who feel they've been marginalized by the Sunni majority.

"It is not a secret that the Iranians have been helping the Houthis for years now," Almasmari said. "So, the presidential comments like this is a sign of weakness. It's not a secret. He's not saying anything new. The Houthis today have hundreds of thousands of armed gunmen willing to fight and those are not Iranians. Those are Yemenis."

In July, the U.N. Security Council and the United States, in separate statements, expressed concern about Yemen's fighting and urged a peaceful reconciliation.

---------

GCC Foreign Ministers to discuss developments in Yemen Saturday
http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789...D=3&SubID=8152

Spoiler!

The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdul Latif Al-Zayani has revealed that GCC foreign ministers will meet to discuss the latest developments in Yemen this Saturday.

The Bahraini news agency quoted Al-Zayani as saying that the meeting will take place in Saudi Jeddah city and will focus on the threats by Houthi militants who have been rallying inside and outside the capital city of Sanaa.

"The meeting will thrash out the situation in the Arab region and the performance of the GCC at a time when the Gulf countries are seeking to deepen their cooperation and ties," Al-Zayani was quoted as adding.

Separately, Transition President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi said on Thursday the latest acts by the Houthi Group has put Yemen in a very worrying situation while crticizing attempts of Houthis to create crises for internal and external agendas.

"The problem of Yemen at the moment is that it is moving from a crisis to another and that is because some factions are exploiting the public criticism of recently approved reforms to spread chaos," Hadi was quoted as saying by state media.
"Could it be that the latest crisis in the capital caused by Houthis was inspired by the Islamic State in Iraq," Hadi said, while adding, "There is no similarity between the slogans and goals of both groups and the truth is that some regional countries are using some groups to serve their interests in Yemen".

On Wednesday, Hadi met with the recently formed popular alignment committee and revealed that advisers of leader of the Houthi Group have Iranian nationalities.
According to reports, Hadi also said the Yemeni authorities had arrested two experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards while they were trying to build a missile factory in the country.

Hadi has been accusing Iran of meddling in Yemen's affairs through providing all support to Houthis.

[Ars Moriendi]

In what appears to be a tactical decision to seize the opportunity from the chaos and political turmoil in Sanaa, AQAP has seized the chance to attack more heavily the Yemeni military in the South.

Several Yemeni soldiers killed in al Qaeda attacks in south Yemen
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story...in-south-yemen

Spoiler!

ADEN, Yemen - Suspected al Qaeda militants carried out two separate suicide car bombings against military locations in the south Yemen province of Shabwa on Sunday, killing several Yemeni soldiers, local officials and medical sources said.

Ansar al-Sharia, al Qaeda's local affiliate in Yemen, said on its Twitter account it had launched a "widespread campaign in Shabwa province on Sunday at noon that targeted a number of military and security locations for the Sanaa regime."

The same Twitter account has posted news from the group in the past.

The attacks were some of the most significant to be carried out by the insurgents in southern Yemen since the army launched a major campaign earlier in the year to flush out militants of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) from their strongholds in Abyan and Shabwa provinces.

Sources gave different death tolls.

One local official said a suicide car bomber blew himself up at a military checkpoint in Gol al-Rayda district in Shabwa province, killing three soldiers.

Another official said another suicide car bomber attacked a military checkpoint in Azzan, also in Shabwa province, killing a further three soldiers. Some militants also died, he said.

Medical sources at a hospital in the port of Balhaf said they had received the corpses of 13 Yemeni soldiers and 33 others, some in critical condition, were receiving medical attention.

Hours after the attacks, a military source cited by the state news agency Saba in a text message later said that seven Yemeni soldiers had died when they confronted an attack in Shabwa and that a "number of terrorists" had been killed.

On Saturday, security forces killed five militants who tried to take over a police station in the eastern province of Hadramout, state news agency Saba said.

AQAP has become more active in Hadramout since being driven out of their power bases in the southern provinces of Shabwa and Abyan. In recent years the group has killed hundreds of people in attacks on state institutions, including army camps and state buildings across the country.

In 2011, the group took advantage of a power vacuum left by a uprising that toppled President Ali Abdullah Saleh after 33 years of rule and seized entire towns and districts in the south. They were later driven out by the army.

Yemen, an impoverished country of 25 million people, shares a long border with the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and lies near some of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The United States and its allies in the region have long worried that Yemen's political instability could allow AQAP to flourish and launch attacks overseas. —Reuters

I'm not sure what Hadi's options are now that the Houthis are entirely galvanized and almost entrenched around Sanaa, that AQAP will progressively realise they have a perfect chance to increase their power in South Yemen, all while remembering that the armed militias of the Islah party (Hadi's ally and an organization affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood) had been routed from their stronghold in Amran a couple of months ago.

The two questions to consider now are in my opinion:
1) How will the Yemeni military respond to the rising chaos? I've already seen some soldiers abandoning their positions and joining the Houthi protests (probably Zaydi men).
2) What will the West and the GCC come up with now that the Yemeni situation is on the verge of getting completely out of hand.

The deal that the IMF sprung will clearly not be honoured, and NATO simply cannot afford to completely lose Yemen for it'd mean a severe blow to their power projection in the Red Sea, and could even compromise Operation Atalanta around the shores of the Horn of Africa.

[Ars Moriendi]

Being pushed against the cords, Hadi has gone one step further in trying to appease the Houthis and has dismissed the whole Yemeni government (Yemen has both a Primer Minister and a President like France), and offered to hand over several ministries and reinstate 30% of the fuel subsidies, while attempting to keep the most important ones for himself.

Being consistent with his gamble to go all in, al-Houthi has however rejected the move and seemingly calls for the unconditional end of Hadi's rule and possibly the full return of the government subsidies.

The Western media has started to pick up on the current method being used in Sanaa, and just like I stated to you in the beginning of this page (check first post of page 3), it would appear a very similar scenario to the Kiev Euromaidan rebellion is on the verge of taking places.

Intelligence leaks suggest that Hadi's decision to dismiss the whole Yemeni government followed an interception that suggested the Houthi militias were getting ready to storm the Parliament and the government offices. On the meantime, they still keep trying to cut the fuel supplies to Sanaa coming from Aden and the southern regions, fighting pro-government paramilitaries to do so.

I've not picked up any particular new move coming from AQAP since they gunned down the Yemeni soldiers 48 hour ago, but this sign of terrible weakness from Ha is bound to lure them into more daring operations.

A few sources to back up this brief update:

------

Yemeni President Dismisses Cabinet to Ease Tension
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ebels-25205213

Spoiler!

The Yemeni president on Tuesday dismissed the Cabinet including the prime minister who led it for two years, while partially reversing an earlier decision to lift fuel subsidies in a bid to end a standoff with Shiite rebels holding anti-government protests across the country.

Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi made his decision during a meeting with the now outgoing government, representatives of political parties and parliament members, the official news agency SABA reported. The decisions came in response to an "initiative" submitted by a presidential committee formed by Hadi to examine peaceful resolutions for the Yemeni crisis.

"The nation is passing through tough times," the agency reported Hadi as saying during the meeting. "It is standing at a crossroads: either walk the path of life, development, and a new Yemen, or chaos, lawlessness and the unknown."

Hadi pledged to represent the interests of the Yemeni people as a whole and not privilege particular factions or groups. He said he would appoint a new prime minister within a week, after which political parties will nominate Cabinet ministers from their own ranks. Hadi will appoint defense, interior, finance and foreign ministers, SABA said.

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam said his group rejected the move and would continue to pressure the government. "We are not giving in ... but we will also not shut the door to dialogue."

Faris al-Saqqaf, Hadi's political adviser, told The Associated Press the rebels, known as Hawthis, had surprised him by reacting in what he described as a harsh and swift manner.

"It shows that the Hawthis have other goals and are using the subsidies as a pretext to execute another agenda," he said. On Monday, Hadi alleged that there are "countries in the region that want to create chaos in Sanaa and burn it like Damascus and Baghdad are burning now" — a thinly veiled reference to Iran, which he says supports Hawthis.

Hadi's decision comes a day after Hawthi rebel leader Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi escalated the confrontation with Hadi by calling for civil disobedience against the government. He also urged the expansion of mass protests that have disrupted life in the capital for over two weeks. The rebels had been demanding the government to step down and also reinstate fuel subsides.

Fuel prices nearly doubled after the subsidy cuts, but the reaction on the street was limited when it was announced in July. Opponents say the Hawthis are using the issue as a cover and are really just want to seize power.

The Hawthis' ability to mobilize tens of thousands in the capital and set up sit-ins near several ministries has put security authorities on alert.

A senior Yemeni security official said that Hawthis are plotting a Ukrainian-style revolution in the capital and that they plan to storm the cabinet and parliament over the coming days.

The conflict between Hawthis and the government is rooted in enmity between the Shiite rebels and rival Sunni militias that are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood group and its political arm, the Islah party.

Hawthis recently defeated the Islamists after months of battle in the north, where they eventually took over the city of Amran. Critics view their current push on the government as an extension of that victory — opportunism using the subsidies issue as a pretext.

The Islah party is part of the government. Critics saw outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Bassindwa as week and too close to the party. The change of the prime minister is the first since the election of Hadi in 2012.

The Hawthis waged a six-year insurgency that officially ended in 2010. The following year, an Arab Spring-inspired uprising shook the country, eventually forcing longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down as part of a U.S.-backed deal giving him immunity from prosecution.

Al-Hawthi said late Sunday a campaign of civil disobedience would begin Monday, "but it will not be about closing stores or groceries ... it will be a different kind." He didn't elaborate.

"If our demands are not met there will be decisive measures that we will talk about in time," he said.

Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest nations, is facing multiple challenges. In addition to Hawthi rebels, an al-Qaida branch in the south poses a constant threat as it tries to impose control over cities and towns.

On Tuesday, al-Qaida militants shot three men dead in the southern province of Hadramawt, a security official said. Next to the bodies of the three men, he said, the militants left a statement describing them as "spies" for the United States who had been helping target al-Qaida militants for U.S. drone strikes.

"The spies sold their religion and themselves to the devil in return for money," the official quoted the statement as saying. "The Americans with their drones in the sky and those with their evil eyes on the ground," it added, warning others who cooperate with the U.S. that they would "face the same destiny."

The U.S. considers Yemen's local branch of al-Qaida to be the world's most dangerous, and has helped support Yemeni government offensives against it with drone strikes.

Official: Yemen Protesters Plan Ukrainian-Style Revolution
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5752302.html

Spoiler!

SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- The Yemeni president on Tuesday dismissed the Cabinet, firing the prime minister for the first time in two years, while partially reversing an earlier decision to lift fuel subsidies in a bid to end a standoff with Shiite rebels holding anti-government protests across the country.

Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi made his decision during a meeting with the now outgoing government, representatives of political parties and parliament members, the official news agency SABA reported. The decisions came in response to an "initiative" submitted by a presidential committee formed by Hadi to examine peaceful resolutions for the Yemeni crisis.

"The nation is passing through tough times," the agency reported Hadi as saying during the meeting. "It is standing at a crossroads: either walk the path of life, development, and a new Yemen, or chaos, lawlessness and the unknown."

Hadi pledged to represent the interests of the Yemeni people as a whole and not privilege particular factions or groups. He said he would appoint a new prime minister within a week, after which political parties will nominate Cabinet ministers from their own ranks. Hadi will appoint defense, interior, finance and foreign ministers, SABA said.

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam said his group rejected the move and would continue to pressure the government. "We are not giving in ... but we will also not shut the door to dialogue."


Supporters of Yemen's Hawthi group chant slogans during the anti government protest at Taghyeer square in the capital Sanaa on Sep. 1, 2014. (Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Faris al-Saqqaf, Hadi's political adviser, told The Associated Press the rebels, known as Hawthis, had surprised him by reacting in what he described as a harsh and swift manner.

"It shows that the Hawthis have other goals and are using the subsidies as a pretext to execute another agenda," he said.

Hadi's decision comes a day after Hawthi rebel leader Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi escalated the confrontation with Hadi by calling for civil disobedience against the government. He also urged the expansion of mass protests that have disrupted life in the capital for over two weeks. The rebels had been demanding the government to step down and also reinstate fuel subsides.

Fuel prices nearly doubled after the subsidy cuts, but the reaction on the street was limited when it was announced in July. Opponents say the Hawthis are using the issue as a cover and are really just want to seize power.

The Hawthis' ability to mobilize tens of thousands in the capital and set up sit-ins near several ministries has put security authorities on alert.

A senior Yemeni security official said that Hawthis are plotting a Ukrainian-style revolution in the capital and that they plan to storm the cabinet and parliament over the coming days.


Supporters of Yemen's Hawthi group stage anti government protest in the capital Sanaa on Aug. 29, 2014. (Samet Dogan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The conflict between Hawthis and the government is rooted in enmity between the Shiite rebels and rival Sunni militias that are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood group and its political arm, the Islah party.

Hawthis recently defeated the Islamists after months of battle in the north, where they eventually took over the city of Amran. Critics view their current push on the government as an extension of that victory -- opportunism using the subsidies issue as a pretext.

The Islah party is part of the government. Critics saw outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Bassindwa as week and too close to the party.

The Hawthis waged a six-year insurgency that officially ended in 2010. The following year, an Arab Spring-inspired uprising shook the country, eventually forcing longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down as part of a U.S.-backed deal giving him immunity from prosecution.

Al-Hawthi said late Sunday a campaign of civil disobedience would begin Monday, "but it will not be about closing stores or groceries ... it will be a different kind." He didn't elaborate.

"If our demands are not met there will be decisive measures that we will talk about in time," he said.


Supporters of Yemen's Hawthi group stage anti government protest at Taghyeer square in the capital Sanaa, on Sep. 1, 2014. (Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Yemen's Houthis reject government move to quell protests
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/0...0R32K120140902

Spoiler!

By Mohammed Ghobari

(Reuters) - Yemen's president dismissed his government on Tuesday, proposed a national unity administration and suggested reinstating fuel subsidies, government sources said, in moves to quell weeks of unrest by a rebel movement.

But the Houthis, a Shi'ite Muslim group that had massed tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Sanaa with camps set up near the Interior Ministry, rejected the compromise proposals by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The impasse raises fears of worsening instability in Yemen, an impoverished Arabian Peninsula state bordering oil exporting power Saudi Arabia, and which is also struggling with a stubborn al Qaeda insurgency and southern secessionists.

The Houthis, who are demanding that the government resign and subsidies be fully restored, have been fighting for years for more power for their Zaydi sect in north Yemen.

Government sources told Reuters that Hadi had dismissed his government, suggested a national unity administration and planned to reduce petrol and diesel prices by 30 percent to offset unpopular cuts to fuel subsidies, which had drained Yemeni coffers but buoyed impoverished citizens.

A government source said implementation of the initiative depended on the Houthis' acceptance.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for Houthi leader Abdulmalek al-Houthi, said in a statement on his Facebook page: "We do not agree to it. Our position is still that we (stand) by the Yemeni people who have gone out in a blessed popular revolution to demand their legitimate and just rights."

A member of the Houthis' political bureau, Abdel Malik al-Ijri, told Reuters: "What was demanded was a cancellation of the fuel price rise, and the lowering which was announced today represents nothing."

With the Houthis' rejection, it is unclear what the government's next move will be. However, Hadi, in a speech before the meeting where the proposal was signed, suggested his patience was running out.

"I affirm that I will deal decisively with all attempts to shake security and carry out division," he said in remarks on the state Saba news agency.

Insecurity and political turmoil have mounted in Yemen since Arab spring protests ousted veteran autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 and Hadi took his place in a complex deal mediated by the United Nations, Gulf neighbours and the United States.

The United States and Saudi Arabia were alarmed by the rapid growth of al Qaeda in Yemen in the disorder created by the anti-Saleh uprising and are keen to avoid a spread into the majority Sunni Muslim state of sectarian bloodshed plaguing other regions of the Middle East.

In a copy of Hadi's initiative seen by Reuters, the president plans a minimum wage rise and the allotment of ministerial posts to the Houthis and other constituencies while retaining the right to the weightiest portfolios of finance, foreign affairs, defence and the interior.

[Ars Moriendi]

Topic was moved to Geopolitics given that I intend to keep working and adding information to this for a while.
Special thanks to Loki for helping out with that.

[ProN00b]

Imbeciles fighting over religion, no matter if it's Christianity, Islam, Shintoism or whatever, it's just non-sense, one big crap.

[Ars Moriendi]

Imbeciles fighting over religion, no matter if it's Christianity, Islam, Shintoism or whatever, it's just non-sense, one big crap.

Religion only plays a part of the equation in the conflict in Yemen. True, the Houthis have positioned themselves as the speakers of the Zaydi minority (30%+ of the population), which is a majority in North Yemen, but if you look at the conflict in detail, it's more a political struggle with ethnoreligious overtones.

Hadi, just like Saleh before him, has been supported by the Western powers, as well as Saudi Arabia (the majority of his international official trips have been to Jeddah), and even Qatar, since the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate Islah party is one of his main allies.

While the government is broadly Sunni, that hasn't helped them to stall the advance from AQAP, and the Houthis are not asking for a conversion of Yemen into a Zaydi confessional State, as much as they're trying to federalize the country and solidify their autonomy in the North, with a secondary ideal objective of becoming the most cohesive political and military force in the country, similar to Hezbollah's success in Lebanon.

[ProN00b]

Religion only plays a part of the equation in the conflict in Yemen. True, the Houthis have positioned themselves as the speakers of the Zaydi minority (30%+ of the population), which is a majority in North Yemen, but if you look at the conflict in detail, it's more a political struggle with ethnoreligious overtones.

Hadi, just like Saleh before him, has been supported by the Western powers, as well as Saudi Arabia (the majority of his international official trips have been to Jeddah), and even Qatar, since the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate Islah party is one of his main allies.

While the government is broadly Sunni, that hasn't helped me stall the advance from AQAP, and the Houthis are not asking for a conversion of Yemen into a Zaydi confessional State, as much as they're trying to federalize the country and solidify their autonomy in the North, with a secondary ideal objective of becoming the most cohesive political and military force in the country, similar to Hezbollah's success in Lebanon.

It's just evil Western powers, bitch please, those are uneducated religiously indoctrinated cretins, America and West have full right to use them for their goals. Who could force me to go to die for some fuckin country or religion? America is just excuse for some people being morons. Now you're gonna tell me I'm wrong or what?

[Ars Moriendi]

It's just evil Western powers, bitch please, those are uneducated religiously indoctrinated cretins, America and West have full right to use them for their goals. Who could force me to go to die for some fuckin country or religion? America is just excuse for some people being morons. Now you're gonna tell me I'm wrong or what?

I said that the conflict in Yemen is first and foremost, a political struggle between factions with different goals, that use ethnoreligious factors to solidify their camps and make their goals more easy to identify.
Unlike what you seemed to state at the beginning, religion isn't the core of it. If it was, you'd be seeing an unified Sunni camp trying to convert or cleanse the Zaydis, and you'd see a Zaydi camp trying to occupy Sunni areas and annex them.
Factors like AQAP, the negotiations between al-Houthi and Hadi, or the agreed withdrawal from Amran are clear examples that political, and military, calculations play a major role in the future of Yemen.

When I mentioned the West, I said so to clarify that on top of their own interests, each faction also has to consider the objectives of their backers. Hadi owes his position to the US and NATO, Islah depends greatly from Qatari funding, the Yemeni military receives assistance from the Saudis, AQAP has recently declared their allegiance to the Islamic State, and the Houthis are widely rumoured to be recieving some form of Iranian assitance.

All this intertwined factors make the conflict more complex than a simple jihad vs jihad dynamic, which ignorant Western media seems to portray at some times.
The Arabian Peninsulae today is not the same as during the Rashidun days.