Yemeni rebels say Saudis setting up buffer zone

Posted Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009

By AHMED AL-HAJ and SALAH NASRAWI

Associated Press Writers

SAN'A, Yemen —

Saudi Arabia is trying to set up a buffer zone inside Yemen after its week-long offensive against the Yemeni insurgents along the border, a rebel spokesman said Wednesday.

Mohammed Abdul Salam said Saudi warplanes and artillery have been shelling deep into border areas to create the zone and drive the rebels away.

"Their goal seems to be establishing a buffer zone or a no man's land on the border," he said in a telephone interview from the rebels' strongholds in Yemen's northern Saada province. "It is obvious, they are trying to scare us and make us leave the area."

Saudi Arabia launched an air and ground offensive against the Yemeni rebels last week after skirmishes along the border. Both Saudi Arabia and Yemen have accused Iran of backing the rebels raising concerns of another proxy war in the Middle East between region's Shiite and Sunni powers.

Iran has denied the charge and warned against outside involvement in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country. Iranian Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki said Tuesday regional countries should not "interfere in internal issues" in Yemen.

In Sana'a, the Foreign Ministry acknowledging Iran's comments and stressed in a statement Wednesday that no country has the right to interfere in Yemen's internal affairs.

On Tuesday, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the Saudi assistant defense minister, said the rebels must "withdraw dozens of kilometers" inside Yemen before the Saudi military would halt its assault.

Abdul Salam described the Saudi bombardment as "random" and hitting residential areas.

The Yemeni army has also halted its four month-long offensive on the rebels positions after the Saudi assault, he said. "They are leaving the Saudis to do the job for them now."

The official Yemeni news agency, Saba, said earlier that the army has advanced into some rebel-controlled areas and inflicted "huge casualties" on the insurgents.

Yemen has been embroiled in a sporadic, five-year conflict with Shiite rebels in northern Sa'ada province along the border with Saudi Arabia. The rebels accuse authorities of neglecting their needs and of allying with hard-line Sunni fundamentalists.

Fighting has intensified since August, displacing tens of thousands of people and limited their access to humanitarian aid.

According to the U.N.'s refugee agency, some 175,000 people have been displaced since the fighting began.

On Tuesday, a Saudi government adviser said Saudi army had imposed a naval blockade on the Red Sea coast of northern Yemen to stem the flow of weapons and fighters to rebels along its border.

For their part, the rebels known as Hawthis have denied being backed by any of the regional players.

On Wednesday the state news agency reported that Yemen has signed a military cooperation agreement with the United States for "exchanging experiences, training and qualification in the military and security fields."

Abdul Salam, the rebel spokesman, also predicted the buffer zone won't prevent infiltrators from Yemen - the most impoverished Mideast nation - from crossing into Saudi Arabia. He suggested many of those who cross are destitute Yemenis in search of a better life on the other side of the boundary.

"Poor Yemenis will keep crossing," Abdul Salam said.

Saudi Arabia establishes 10 K wide no go zone on border with Yemen

by al-masakin
Sunday Nov 8th, 2009 8:22

RIYADH, Nov 9, 2009 (NNN-KUNA) --

Saudi regular forces have mopped up border regions clearing pockets of infiltrators and restoring conditions in these areas to normalcy, according to a senior official.

Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Minister of Defence for Military Affairs, said in a statement after he toured border military positions located close to the border with Yemen Sunday that the personnel were carrying out instructions of King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to refrain from assaulting individuals without provocation.

The kingdom has a single red line, which is safeguarding national sovereignty, he said, vowing to "cut off the hand" that may seek to infringe on the national territories.

All regions along the border have been evacuated of civilians, he said, indicating that a 10-km-wide security belt has been established along the border.

He affirmed that suspicious elements who may venture into the security belt will be targeted by the Saudi forces.

-- NNN-KUNA