AFP

Sanaa

Tens of thousands of Shia rebel activists demonstrated in the Yemeni capital yesterday heeding a call by their leader to press their campaign to oust the government in defiance of the UN.

The show of strength by the Zaidi Shia rebels caused traffic jams on several major roads in Sanaa.

In a speech late on Sunday, rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi called on supporters who have been manning armed protest camps in the capital for the past week to continue their campaign to topple the national unity government, from which the rebels are excluded.  

Houthi slammed a demand by the UN Security Council on Friday for the camps to be dismantled and for the rebels to pull back from areas they have occupied in recent months.

He accused the council, which threatened sanctions against groups blocking the political transition in impoverished Yemen, of “supporting corruption and backing policies that lead to further poverty”.

The rebels have been campaigning since early August for the national unity government to be replaced and for unpopular austerity policies it has adopted, including a sharp rise in fuel prices, to be reversed.

They are demanding a broader political partnership.

Houthi urged his supporters to continue their protests “until the end of this week, and we might start with new actions next week”, which could include civil disobedience.

Analysts say the rebels are trying to establish themselves as the dominant political force in the northern highlands, where the Zaidi Shias are the majority community.

Yemen has been locked in a protracted transition since long-time strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from power in February 2012 after a deadly 11-month uprising.

The government’s plans for a six-region federation to address the grievances of the regions have been rejected by both the Shia rebels and southern separatists.

Qaeda kills three for allegedly aiding US drones

Al Qaeda militants have executed three men they accuse of planting electronic chips in the network’s vehicles to help US drones target them, a security official said yesterday.  

Scores of Al Qaeda suspects, including some of the network’s leaders, have been killed in drone strikes in Yemen.  

The United States is the only country operating drones over Yemen, but US officials rarely acknowledge the covert programme.

“Al Qaeda militants executed the three men with gunfire after having tortured them,” the security official told AFP.

The official said residents of southeastern Hadramout province found two bodies near the town of Shibam, while a third body was found in neighbouring Qoton.

He did not specify if the three were soldiers or civilians, but residents said that troops came and took away the bodies from the two locations.

Tracts left alongside the bodies said “the mujahedeen (Islamic fighters) captured a group of spies who sold themselves to the devil in return for a few riyals.”

They had “become the eyes of the infidels ... (who) use their aircraft from the sky”, it said.