18 March 2010 / REUTERS, SANAA
Yemeni Shiite rebels freed at least 170 government soldiers and tribal fighters on Wednesday after Sanaa accused them of dragging their feet on implementing a truce deal to end a northern war, both sides said.
The move came a day after a top Yemeni security body said the rebels were not fully complying with a deal struck in February to end a conflict that has raged on and off since 2004 and drew in neighboring oil exporter Saudi Arabia last year. While a step forward, the release highlighted differences that remain between the sides, with a military official saying more government prisoners were still being held and the rebels demanding the state free imprisoned insurgents. “The truce committee received 170 detainees, some military and others tribesmen who fought alongside the forces during the latest clashes,” the military official told Reuters. “There are still many detainees being held by the rebels.” Sanaa, struggling to stabilise a fractious country, came under heavy international pressure to end the northern war to focus on fighting al-Qaeda, whose Yemen-based arm claimed a failed December attack on a US-bound plane. Western governments and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, fear al-Qaeda is exploiting instability on many fronts in Yemen to recruit and train militants for attacks in the region and beyond. Analysts say the truce deal between the government and rebels, who belong to the minority Zaydi sect of Shiite Islam, was unlikely to last as it does not address the insurgents’ complaints of discrimination by Sanaa.
