Rebel leader injured, not killed: senior Yemeni official

SANA'A, Jan. 19 (Saba) – A
Yemeni senior official has denied that rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi had been
killed,
saying the leader was seriously wounded and he is currently in his home village in
the district of Marran, Saada. Deputy prime minister for Internal Affairs Sadiq
Ameen Abu
Ras said that President Saleh has many times pointed to the injuries of al Houthi.
The war against the Houthi insurgents in the far north will not be stopped until
militants
start implementing the ceasefire conditions announced by the government, he also
said. In interview with the UAE newspaper of Al Khaleej, Abu Ras also said that
dialog with
former vice president who fled Yemen after the 1994 civil war Ali Salim al Beidh and
the southern movement was welcome but on condition it takes place under the roof of
unity.
'Separation is an outdated matter and now thousands of Yemeni people are ready to be
devoted for defending national unity,' he said. The state never deals with gangs, we
have a constitution and enforced laws, hence it is normal that the state places
conditions including that any dialog should be under national principles. The
government had
put a timetable to end the insurgency, and now about 60 percent of the project has
been completed. Anyway, the government is ready to set table and talk to anyone to
pull
our country of all problems, he said. In reply to a question about al Qaeda, Abu Ras
said the organization is operating in many places on the globe and we all
experienced
terrorist attacks, particularly after the 9/11. Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen are of
those who came back from Afghanistan but they returned with their minds being
changed.
In regard of fighting terrorism, Abu Ras said Yemen never accepts foreign troops on
its soil, because the matter is related to Yemen's sovereignty. Yemen is able to
tackle
its problems first and foremost al Qaeda, he said, adding other countries can only
provide intelligence and economic aid to us. 'Al Qaeda in Yemen is nothing and the
world
should learn from invading Afghanistan and Iraq where the organization became
stronger only after foreign intervened in the two Muslim states.' On a
Britain-called conference
on Yemen set for later this month in London, he said the initiative was hailed and
the meeting aims to discuss how to support Yemen to face its economic and security
challenges.
FR