Tuesday, 07 September 2010 02:20

HAJJA, 16 Nov — Saudi fighter jets Monday night bombed a number of targets near the port of Midi in Hajja, the Islamist website, Alsahwa said quoting sources at Yemen’s coastguard in Midi.  The sources said “the air strikes hit targets in Yemen’s Small Ashaq island near the Saudi Large Ashaq island,” adding “the shelling hit some areas near the island of Midi and intelligence officers from the Political Security Organization and military intelligence rushed to the scene to investigate.”  A number of Yemeni fishermen in Midi told reporters they heard explosions near their boats and voiced fear they could be targeted and appealed to the Yemeni government to ask Saudis to be careful saying “we are merely fishermen trying to make a living and we have women and children to look after.”  Meanwhile, the independent news website, News Yemen Monday quoted the head of the local council in Midi, Taha al-Atas as saying “two fighter jets fired a number of missiles at the back end of Midi port and also fired near fishing boats,” adding “one of the jets came from the south and the other came from the north but no human or material damage was inflicted.”  Saudi navy had announced it is monitoring the Yemeni port of Midi to prevent arms supplies from reaching the rebels.

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 02:20

SADAA, 16 Nov — In a statement to the Kuwaiti al-Watan newspaper, field commander of the Zaydi Shiite rebels in north Yemen, Abdul-Malik al-Huthi Monday denied reports the rebels are receiving aid from fellow Shiites in Kuwait.  He said “the Huthis are Arabs and Muslims and our affiliation is not bound to a certain ideology or a state,” adding “the regime in Yemen is exploiting ideological differences for political gains.”  On their demands, he said “all we want is for aggression to stop and for a halt to destruction and killings and we want an opportunity for intellectual freedom and expression,” and stressed “we have no ties or coordination with al-Qaeda and there is cultural and practical differences with them,” adding “al-Qaeda is an instrument for Zionist intelligence agencies.”  “The war is not only in Sadaa but has affected all the people of Yemen in the northern governorates but its ferocity varies from one region to another,” he added.  Meanwhile, his brother, Yahya al-Huthi who lives in exile in Germany Monday welcomed the statement of the Iranian Consultative Council which blasted what it called “Saudi aggression and killings of innocent people in Yemen.”  He said “the Saudi aggression came to assist its agent regime in Sanaa in order to protect it and prevent it from stopping the war,” adding “we have called for dialogue with the Saudis but their response was arrogant.”