| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Saudi gives Yemeni rebels 48 hrs on captives |
| 2010-02-15 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister said on Saturday he gave Yemen's Houthi rebels 48 hours to release five Saudi soldiers held captive, adding that a ceasefire agreement between the rebels and the government in Yemen was an internal affair. "They must return our five prisoners, and we have given them 48 hours to do so," Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan said at a defense show in Riyadh, adding his country would "not permit militants to remain on our soil." The countdown started from Friday, his aide, General Ibrahim al-Malek, told AFP. "He gave them 48 hours from yesterday," said the aide, who like Prince Khaled did not specify what action Saudi Arabia would take if the prisoners were not released by the deadline. The London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported the handover of the captive Saudi soldiers would be completed in less than a week. "The handover operations of prisoners of war after the end of the Saudi confrontations against the Houthi infiltrators are part of the ceasefire agreement between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels," newspaper quoted an unidentified Yemeni security official as saying. "The handover operations are expected to be completed in less than a week." he added. Complications But rebel sources said an exchange of prisoners has run into last-minute complications. "The authorities want us to release all Yemeni and Saudi prisoners, which was not the agreement," one of them said. The rebels want to exchange their prisoners for rebels captured by the Yemeni military. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, was refusing to exchange detained rebel fighters for the five Saudi soldiers being held by the rebels, according to another rebel source. The ceasefire is the government's latest bid in a campaign to crush a rebellion that began in 2004, killing thousands and leaving 250,000 homeless in recurring fighting. The latest round of clashes erupted on August 11, when government forces launched "Operation Scorched Earth," an all-out offensive. The six-point truce requires the rebels to reopen three major routes in the first stage: the road between Saada, Harf Sufian and the capital, Sanaa; the road from Saada west to Malahidh and the road from Saada east to al-Jawf. It also calls for a rebel withdrawal from government buildings, the return of arms seized from security forces, release of all prisoners including Saudis, handover of captured army posts, and a pledge not to attack Saudi Arabia. The Saudis joined the fighting in November after accusing the rebels of killing a border guard and occupying two small villages. Saudi ground troops and aircraft repeatedly engaged the rebels in operations which the rebels said continued even after their fighters had withdrawn from all Saudi territory occupied in the fighting. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 WORLD NEWS > YEMEN: SMALL ARMS SALES GOING UNDERGROUND; + SOMALI PIRACY MAY REACH YEMEN [Proposal for Piracy Conference to be held in POTUS Bammer WH]. * SAME > SOMALIA: HIZBUL ISLAM URGES LAWMAKERS TO JOIN ISLAMISTS. IMO read, JOIN-OR-DIE??? HEY, D **** NG IT, THE HIZBIES ARE ASKING POLITELY! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-02-15 19:33 |
| #1 Have Saudi's Freed From : Captive Interventionist Achievers : Have Them : Saudi's : Promise : Five : Not To Be : Ever : Near : Region : While : In : Saudi Military Service : EVER : NEVER : AGAIN : Allah O Akbar : All : Sign : Peaceful Accords - |
| Posted by: Phavith the Rasher of Bacon5048 2010-02-15 18:32 |