Yemen hails military cooperation deal with US

Yemen hails military cooperation deal with US

2 hours ago

SANAA — Yemen said on Wednesday that it had signed a military cooperation deal with the United States although the US embassy would confirm only that talks had been held on joint counterterrorism efforts.

Yemen's official Saba news agency said that the cooperation agreement was signed during talks in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday between the two countries' militaries.

The news agency also quoted Brigadier General Jeffrey Smith, the commander of the US 5th Signal Command, as renewing Washington's support for Yemen's unity, security and stability.

But US embassy spokeswoman Debrah Smith declined to comment on whether any agreement had been signed.

OK so here is a very interesting development...

Saudi Arabia has been in a border struggle with some insurgents. I've been keeping an eye on this struggle. Iran has also offered their assistance. The Yemen Government seems to want US support.

Other related threads.
Saudi fighter jets reportedly strike rebel targets in Yemen

Reporting from Cairo - Saudi Arabian warplanes attacked Shiite rebel strongholds in northern Yemen on Thursday in a surge of fighting along the border that followed the death of a Saudi security official at the hands of insurgents, according to news reports.

Iran's foreign minister has sharply warned Yemen's neighbours to stay out of the country's internal affairs as the fighting between Yemeni rebels and Saudi forces intensifies.

But Saudi Arabia says its military offensive will continue until the Houthi rebels withdraw from the two countries' border.

Yemen says war with rebels not about Shi'ism

DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Yemeni government said on Wednesday it had no conflict with minority Shi'ite Muslims, as its war with Shi'ite rebels in the north increasingly draws Sunni Muslim neighbour Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite power Iran.

"The state has no dispute with the Shi'ite confession which it respects like any other Islamic confession. The conflict with terrorist elements is not sectarian but stems from them being a rebel group outside the law...," a foreign minister official said in a statement to Yemeni media.

Cheers for the info Slayer. Very interesting times in that part of the world.

Yemeni rebels say Saudis setting up buffer zone

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

Mohammed Abdel 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."

The mideast is a confusing mess with many players with complex alliances.Thanks Slayer for pointing out that situation.Is worth watching closely.

In your OP, you said Iran had "offered assistance", but didn't say to whom. I'm assuming the assistance was offered to the rebels, based on affiliation, and the fact that Iran has warned neighbors to keep their noses out. Pretty cheeky, huh?

Iran and the Saudis have been at odds for ever, since way back before the Kaaba takeover and resultant shootout in Makkah, way back when, by Iranians. Iranians were banned from making the Hajj for several years after that.

Looks to me like Iran is trying to get another toehold at the Saudi's back door, the way they have done with Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, et al.

reply to post by nenothtu


Iran says it can help Yemen restore security

TEHRAN — Iran said on Wednesday it is ready to cooperate with the government of Yemen to restore security there, a day after it warned other regional countries against intervening in the Arabian Peninsula state.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also called for a "collective approach" to help restore peace and stability in Yemen, which is battling a Shiite rebellion in the north.

"Iran is prepared to cooperate with the government of Yemen and other nations in order to restore security" in Yemen, Mottaki told a news conference.

He said the continuing crisis in Yemen can be resolved by "collective efforts" to "help the people and government of the country."

www.reuters.com...

Saudi Arabia has imposed a naval blockade on northern Yemen's Red Sea coast to stop weapons from reaching Yemeni Shi'ite Muslim rebels it is fighting in the area, a Saudi government adviser said on Wednesday.

yes the middle east is a complex mess of alliances... Irans signature can be seen in many of these:

Support the Houthi Rebels in Yemen
Support the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq
Support Hezbollah in Lebanon
Support Taliban Insurgents in Afghanistan/Pakistan

all of these are documented fact...

Saudi Arabia supports the yemeni government, elements throughout the country support Hamas, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban..

The United States supports the Kurdish rebels in Iran, Jundallah in Iran and knowingly or unknowingly the Taliban. you got Turkey and Iran fighting the Kurds, you got Israel and Palestine always at each others throats.. Egypt has shrunk from the middle east scene which is comendible because theyre arab bretheren in Syria are supporting insurgents in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel, the main middle eastern power (i dont think thats debatable either) have no friends and go it alone as they always have in the middle east. so yeah.. quite the mess...

reply to post by SLAYER69


Pretty interesting news you found. I wonder if the recent cooperation has to do with what happened at FT Hood.

Maybe the US is trying to ensure that this guy is nabbed

A radical American imam who communicated with the Fort Hood shooting suspect and called him a hero was once arrested in Yemen on suspicion of giving religious approval to militants to conduct kidnappings. Yemeni authorities are now hunting for Anwar al-Awlaki to determine whether he has al-Qaida ties.

news.yahoo.com...

I have always suspected Yemen to be the headquarters of the Anti-American fundamentalists, acting like friends while they plot against us.

Thanks for posting this.
I always suspected there was a connection.
I was wondering when the US would get invlovled and how.

reply to post by SLAYER69


Ah. I think it may be a safe bet that Iranian assistance will be weighted on the side of their shiite brethren rather than the sunni government, even though they advocate a "collective" approach publicly.

It seems rather telling to me that they have warned off regional (sunni) powers who are much closer to the situation, and have a more vested interest in a stable outcome, and expect everyone involved to just "leave it alone" and let Iran sort it out.

Whose favor do you think the "sorting" will lean towards in that event?

Do we think it's fair to ask whether Shi'a Islam is being exploited as a political tool by the Iranian theocracy in countries like Yemen?

If such a movement exists, which seeks to exploit injustice, suffering and Muslim solidarity for political control, should this not be something that we in the West should be extremely concerned about?

Saudi military enforcing no-go zone inside Yemen

* Saudi forces try to keep Yemen rebels away from border

* 10 km deep "kill zone" no place for civilians

* Saudi navy patrols off northern Yemen - Saudi govt adviser



By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent BEIRUT, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is using air power and artillery to enforce a 10 km (six mile) deep buffer zone inside Yemen to keep Yemeni rebels away from its southwestern border, a Saudi government adviser said on Thursday.

Saudi officials said heavy guns had pounded insurgent positions across the border on Thursday to create what Saudi media have called a "kill zone". The defence ministry spokesman in Riyadh could not immediately be reached for comment.

reply to post by nenothtu


Yemen rejects Iran security offer

The government of Yemen has declined an offer from Iran to help "restore security" and mediate an end to years of fighting with Houthi fighters, saying the conflict is internal and should be handled only by its own government.

Despite that declaration, Saudi Arabian forces have been allowed to keep up their attacks on Houthi positions.

Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran's foreign minister, made the offer on Wednesday, a day after Tehran warned Middle Eastern governments against interfering in Yemen's affairs.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran's foreign minister, made the offer on Wednesday, a day after Tehran warned Middle Eastern governments against interfering in Yemen's affairs.

Priceless! Iran warns other countries not to interfere in Yemeni affairs, then the next day proceeds to make a public offer to interfere in Yemeni affairs itself.

Is it just me, or are they beginning to sound like they think they own the joint?

Originally posted by nenothtu
Is it just me, or are they beginning to sound like they think they own the joint?

You noticed that...


Priceless. Nobody caught that.

reply to post by SLAYER69

Yemen says Iran funding rebels

Yemen has repeated its accusation that Iran is funding Houthi rebel fighters in their war against government forces in the north of the country.

General Yahya Salih, Yemen's counter-terrorism chief, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that it would be impossible for the group to be able to wage its campaign without foreign support.

Al Jazeera English

reply to post by mattpryor


Isn't there some lame new thread around here talking about how this is an example of the US failing in he region. Supposedly this is all the USs fault.