Yemen’s Saleh denies reports of divisions with Houthi rebels
There is no crisis or differences whatsoever but only in the imagination of those who want … to plant doubts and divisions ALI ABDULLAH SALEH Yemen’s former president
Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh says there is no dispute between him and the Shiite Houthi rebels, his allies in the fight against the country’s internationally recognised government.
“There is no crisis or differences whatsoever, but only in the imagination of those who want these decisions and who want to plant these doubts and divisions,” Mr Saleh said on Monday.
There were reports that he was being held under house arrest by the Houthis.
He said there was no truth to what “international media, linked to enemy countries, have reported or what is being said on social media”.
Crisis or not, there has been an increase in tension between Mr Saleh and the Houthis, with leaders on each side criticising the other in recent weeks.
The rebels accused Mr Saleh of trying to pull his forces from the front lines of the war with the government, while the former president’s supporters said that the Iranbacked rebels are monopolising power.
The two factions are unlikely allies. During Mr Saleh’s presidency, he repeatedly went to war with the Houthis in their northern stronghold.
On Monday he said there had been “fears or doubts” by the rebels that he was planning a coup against their joint government.
“We said in letters of assurance to the brother [rebel leader] Abdul Malik Al Houthi not to believe those who want to plant doubt and the plotters that there is an operation against Ansar Allah,” Mr Saleh said, using another name for the Houthis.
“He answered me positively and said ‘there’s no problem at all’. There’s no problem whatsoever between us and Ansar Allah.”
Last week he demanded the arrest of Houthi gunmen suspected of killing one of his top aides, Col Khaled Al Radi. After Al Radi’s death on August 26, fighting broke out between the rebels and Saleh loyalists. Two Houthi fighters were killed in the clashes.
The two sides agreed to ease the tension a few days later. But although the clashes have stopped, fighters from both factions are still stationed in back streets and some buildings in the capital, Sanaa.
The Houthi rebels and Saleh loyalists continue to govern the capital and some areas in the north and west of the country.
A Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, intervened in the war in Yemen in 2015 in support of the government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to restore his power in Sanaa after the Houthis seized the capital and entered an alliance with Mr Saleh and his supporters.
According to the United Nations, more than 8,400 people have been killed and more than three million forced to flee in Yemen’s civil war, pushing the country to the brink of famine.
The World Health Organisation and Yemen’s health ministry said yesterday that the cholera outbreak in the country has infected 612,703 people and killed 2,048 since it began in April.
Some districts are still reporting new cases.
However, the overall spread of the epidemic has slowed in the past couple of months, with the daily number of new suspected cases cut to about 3,000 in recent days.