Yemen Rebels Reportedly Kidnap Man, Briefly Hold Saudis

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Shi’ite Muslim rebels have kidnapped a Yemeni man in the country’s north and also briefly held a group of Saudi citizens, the government said, incidents that threaten a fragile truce with Sanaa.

The northern rebels seized the man in the Harf Sufyan district and took him to an unknown location, Yemeni security services said in a statement.

“A number of Houthi rebels led by Mabghout Shatbouny abducted on Thursday two Saudi citizens in Hiasha area of the district of Harf Sufian in Amran province, north of the capital Sanaa,” said the ministry on its website, citing an unidentified security official of the Interior Ministry.

“The rebels held the Saudis several hours in Hiasha area before later setting them free,” said the security official. “While the Yemeni citizen, identified as Hammam Daris, is still held by the rebels in an unknown area of Harf Sufian district,” he added.

A Saudi diplomatic source at the Kingdom’s embassy in Yemen said that he has no information about reports that Saudi citizens were kidnapped and then released by Houthi rebels near Amran Province 30 km north of the Yemeni capital.

The source emphasized that the embassy has been following up these reports with the responsible authorities at the Yemeni Ministry of Interior in an attempt to verify them.

The Defense Ministry considered the kidnap as another confirmed breach by the Shiite Houthi rebels to the cease-fire truce that was struck on Feb. 11.

The new breach came a week after the Yemeni government accused Shiite Houthi rebels of opening fire on a military plane flying above the city of Saada while a number of top army personnel were on board, an accuse the rebels later denied. According to official Saba news agency, “the plane was not damaged.”

Yemen has witnessed sporadic battles since 2004 between government troops and the Shiite Houthi rebels, whom the government accused of seeking to re-establish the clerical rule overthrown by the 1962 Yemeni revolution which yielded the Yemeni republic.
For more information, please see:

The Washington Post – Yemen Says Rebels Kidnap Man, Briefly Hold Saudis – 24 April 2010

Saudi Gazette – ‘Reports Of Saudis Kidnapped In Yemen Lack Verification’ – 24 April 2010

People’s Daily Online – Yemeni Shiite Rebels Kidnap 2 Saudis, A Yemeni In Fresh Breach Of Truce – 25 April 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive