Yemen Shiites, Sunnis try to de-escalate crisis

SANAA: Rival Shiite and Sunni groups have met for the first time for talks aimed de-escalating the crisis in Yemen since the former seized the capital Sanaa in September, they said yesterday. The meeting between Ansarullah chief Abdelmalek al-Huthi and Al-Islah party delegates took place late Thursday in Huthi’s northern stronghold of Saada, the Shiite militants said on the Internet. The rivalry has intensified since Ansarullah moved beyond Sanaa and also seized territory in central and western Yemen. The Shiite advance has slowed in the face of a counter-offensive by Sunni tribes close to Al-Islah and Al-Qaeda, plunging the country into an unprecedented political crisis.

Al-Islah issued a statement saying the two sides “expressed willingness to cooperate and coexist in accordance with the precepts of Islam advocating brotherhood, love and peace”. The statement said that because of “the dangers threatening Yemen, it was agreed to continue contacts to end the tension and contain the impact of recent events”. An Al-Islah official told AFP the two sides were “negotiating a draft agreement” that, according to a source close to the talks, was meant to “defuse the risk of sectarian conflict” in Yemen. Support for Al-Islah, previously a main political force with its tribal alliances, has wavered since president Ali Abdullah Saleh quit in early 2012 after a year of bloody protests.

Attack on US embassy Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda has claimed it detonated two bombs outside the US embassy in Sanaa, killing several guards, a US-based monitoring group said yesterday. In a message on Twitter, Al-Qaeda’s media branch said its fighters set off the explosive devices at an entrance to the embassy on Thursday night, according to SITE Intelligence Group. There has been no announcement by US authorities of any attack, and American officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claim. The announcement comes three weeks after Al-Qaeda said it had tried to assassinate US Ambassador Matthew Tueller with two bombs that were discovered minutes before they were to explode.

The devices had been planted outside the house of Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and had been intended to explode when Tueller left after a visit there on September 8, Al-Qaeda said. Yemen is a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda, allowing Washington to conduct a longstanding drone war against the group on its territory. The United States considers Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the most dangerous arm of the jihadist organization. AQAP was born out of a 2009 merger of its franchises in Al- Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden’s native Saudi Arabia and his ancestral homeland in Yemen. The group has exploited instability in impoverished Yemen since a 2011 uprising forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.—Agencies