“Amidst false rumors of progress in releasing kidnapped foreigners, Houthis warn of a sixth war in three days”
The Yemen Times gets specific on the timeline, details and geography of the kidnapping and the subsequent events.
Amidst false rumors of progress in releasing kidnapped foreigners, Houthis warn of a sixth war in three days
SANA’A, June 24 – Shiekh Saleh bin Shage’ deputy chief of Waela Tribes at the Yemeni Saudi borders explained that the surrendering of two of his tribes men by his brother Rashad to the Yemeni security in Sa’ada has nothing to do with the missing six foreigners kidnapped on Friday June 12.
“It is a hideous crime that we all condemn, but the two men have nothing to do with it,” he said. “In fact, being easily surrendered to the security without any resistance proves that if they had anything to hide they would have fled.”
Mushin Al-Tam and Hassan Kazman, suspected of involvement in the killing and kidnapping of foreigners were were in the remote area of Nushoor while Yemeni security forces were hunting them. When the two heard they were sought after, they reported to their sheikh’s house, proclaiming their innocence. Waela leaders asked them to surrender to the state and they obliged willingly, according to Bin Shage’.
Most of the locals in Waela belong to the Ismaili sect, which is the second largest part of the Shiite community
The bodies of the two German nurses, 24-year-old Anita Gruenwald and 26-year-old Rita Stumpp, were buried on Tuesday after their memorial service was attended by more than 2000 people at their church in Wolfsburg.
The family members of the Korean teacher Eom Young-seon, 34, buried her last Sunday June 21, after a large funeral in Suwon, south of Seoul.
The autopsy of the nurses’ bodies in Germany showed that the women were shot twice in the head, and nowhere else. It also indicated on the same day or the day after they were kidnapped.
Bullet cases found on the scene confirmed that the women were killed in the place where their bodies were found, not where they were abducted.
The victims four-wheel-drive Toyota and the kidnappers’ Suzuki Vitara are still nowhere to be found. It is speculated that the kidnappers used the hostages’ car to transfer them from Ghuraz area north of Sa’ada city to a hideout after dividing the group of nine into the two cars. Late that night or the following day, the two German nurses and the Korean teacher were taken to Madar Valley of Nushour, shot dead and left there in the wilderness until the bodies were found three days later partially decomposed.
The distance between where the bodies were found [Nushour] and where they were kidnapped [Ghuraz] is no more than 30 minutes drive. Nushour area is around 300 meter from a state army camp, one and half kilometers away from MP Faez Al-Awjari who has been accusing the Houthis of kidnapping the foreigners. The Houthi territory is about kilometer from where the dead bodies were found.
Rumors of handing over kidnappers to Houthi military commander Abdullah Al-Rizami or news of the whereabouts of the kidnapped have been flat-out denied by Al-Rizami in a direct conversation with Yemen Times. Saleh Habra second in command to Abdulmalik Al-Houthi accused the state of plotting this game in order to start a sixth war which he predicted will happen before Sunday.
“For over a month our skies have been patrolled by American military surveillance planes and we know that it holds on board a team of American and British geographical map specialists. We know that they are assisting the Yemeni government in plotting the area and designing for a sixth war,” said Habra.
The American embassy spokes person denied this saying that “this claim has no basis in fact,” while the British embassy had no comment on this issue at the moment.
“We have teams working with the German and British investigative experts to try and find the missing foreigners and return them safe home,” said Brigade Mohammed Al-Qahm Sa’ada chief security last week. Although questions has been raised by western governments as to the seriousness of the Yemeni security in finding the mission persons amidst the State vs. Houthi accusations game.
Yemeni Times sources indicated that both German and British embassies are frustrated at the case’s progress and that the western investigative teams are not getting much information from their Yemeni counterparts.
Meanwhile, Yemeni Minister of Information Hassan Al-Lawzi is still insisting that Houthis kidnapped the nine foreigners and that the incident has nothing to do with religious extremists whether Muslims or Christian, confirming by that what Minister of Interior Rashad Al-Masri had said from the first minute news on the kidnapping was reported.
Al-Lawzi being spokes person of the Yemeni government said the state is currently questioning 42 suspects on the kidnapping issue in the press conference he conducted to brief media on Tuesday. However, Faez Al-Awjari member of the parliament said the suspects being investigated currently are actually drug dealers with some relations with the Houthis.
Houthis in return fear that the real kidnappers would infiltrate their area and kill the kidnapped foreigners there in order to blame it on the Houthi movement. Habra said that they have been tightening their security at the entrances of the Houthi territory in north and west Sa’ada, which is the main center for Houthis in Sa’ada for the same reason.
As it is, armed conflict between armed Houthis and state security in some Sa’ada areas such as Shada and Al-Malaheedh have started since the beginning of this week, the number of killed or injured in these clashes has not yet been identified.
Background
The group had been on an outing on a farm in Ghuraz on the outskirts of Sa’ada city on Friday. On their way home, their 4×4 Toyota was intercepted by three armed men with beards in a black Suzuki Grand Vitara.
The bodies of the Korean teacher Young-Sun Ium, 34 and two German nurses Anita Gruenwald, 25, Rita Stumpp, 26 were found by local shepherds on Monday. A German engineer, his wife and their three children as well as the Briton engineer are still missing.
Paul Lieverse, a spokesman for Worldwide Services, the Dutch-based aid group for which the women worked, told the German news agency DPA that the group places health workers on postings in the developing world for periods of up to two years.
Currently the 21 members of Worldwide Services working in Al-Jumhuri Hospital are taking extra safety precautions and the hospital, in state of emergency, has been shut down until further notice. At least half of the workers of Dutch, German and Korean nationalities have already left to Sana’a on a private plane, while the other half is preparing to leave.
