Yemen Monitor/Reporting Unit/Private:
The Houthi armed group has launched a new campaign to arrest supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, accusing them of collaborating with the Americans and Israelis, according to multiple sources in the Houthi-controlled areas.
This comes after the group announced on May 6th the arrest of a number of Yemenis “for an intelligence cell working for the US and the Israeli occupation.”
Sources told Yemen Monitor that Houthi security agencies, including the “Security and Intelligence Services,” have launched a campaign to hunt down supporters of the former president and members of the General People’s Congress party in most of the governorates under their control on charges of “treason.”
A party official in the capital Sanaa, informed of the details, told Yemen Monitor: “Dozens of party members have been arrested from their villages and areas, political leaders are under constant surveillance or house arrest.”
The official pointed out that party leaders “have received threats for several weeks to start a campaign to pursue party members in most of the governorates; after party leaders have been politically pressuring since last year to improve people’s living conditions.”
What’s Behind the Humiliation of Party Leaders?!
The official indicates that the group is focusing on targeting and monitoring members of the Congress in Sanaa, Hodeidah, Taiz and Ibb, primarily followed by the rest of the governorates.
A second party official told Yemen Monitor that Congress leaders in Sanaa are doing their utmost to humble themselves in order not to be subjected to the armed group’s campaign, including the Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament (not internationally recognized), as they appeared in videos shooting within the armed group’s courses.
In recent weeks, Congress leaders and officials in the group’s authority have appeared in combat courses in “a confirmation to the Houthi leaders that they are not part of any plans to destabilize the group’s rule.”
The second official pointed out that “the Houthis’ humiliation of party leaders is a message to the members that there is no protection and to push them to join the ranks of the armed group in the new combat courses”!
Mohammed Yahya, a “neighborhood leader” in the capital Sanaa, told Yemen Monitor that a meeting last week with security officials asked “neighborhood leaders” to update the data of residents in the area.
He pointed out that later, a group official (neighborhood supervisor) informed a number of leaders to monitor some families and personalities in their residential areas to learn more about their travel details, “most of them are former supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh”!
In the western Yemeni city of Hodeidah, a security source told Yemen Monitor that an unprecedented monitoring and pursuit campaign has been launched by the Security and Intelligence Services in most of the directorates of the coastal province.
He said that some small operations are delegated to the security directorates to track down and arrest personalities, but they are led by Houthi leaders from Sa’ada and Hajjah.
Campaign Justifications
The campaign to hunt down Ali Abdullah Saleh’s supporters had partially stopped after months of his killing by the Houthis in 2017. According to party officials, many of the members who were arrested without charges in 2022 and 2023 have been released from prisons. The Houthis’ fears of Saleh supporters’ protests increased after last September’s Revolution Day demonstrations, where hundreds of them were arrested and dozens were later released.
In a Qat gathering in Sanaa last Saturday, Houthi security officials discussed the “intelligence cell” they had announced. One official, known as “Abu Yusuf al-Hakim,” claimed that Saleh loyalists, whom he described as “Afafeesh”(loyal to the Yemeni Pro-president Ali Afash) were part of an American plot to ignite protests in Sanaa and other provinces “to dismantle the internal front.”
The Houthi official said at the gathering that Ammar Saleh had been in contact with dozens of cells in the provinces, either to identify ballistic missile launch sites and hand them over to the Americans or to prepare for a subsequent plan to destabilize security.
“Ammar Saleh” is the former deputy director of the National Security services who runs an intelligence unit affiliated with the United Arab Emirates, in addition to the intelligence command under his brother “Tariq Saleh” on the country’s west coast. The Houthis have accused him of leading the intelligence cell announced on May 6th.
The first official in the General People’s Congress party mocked the justifications mentioned to him by “Yemen Monitor” and said that the campaign had been ready since September 2023 before the start of the group’s naval attacks, after accusing “the Congress members of taking to the streets to demand the downfall of the group’s ruling system and warning of the return of the imamate priesthood rule.”
Monopolizing Power
The Houthis had announced in September “radical changes” and their first phase, which was preserved by the General People’s Congress party loyal to Saleh, which is considered an ally of the Houthis.
It is believed that the Houthis’ plan is to eliminate the remaining party members from state institutions, in addition to the new financial centers of the group gaining trade from “traders who were loyal during the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh.”
The first official in the General People’s Congress party considered that “the arrest campaign is not because of the Red Sea or any intelligence operations, but to calm the group’s fears of popular anger after the end of the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip”!
The sources spoke to “Yemen Monitor” on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
