Hans Rustad Gruppen som har gjort opprør mot regjeringen i Jemen er shia, og det går en shia-sunni-splittelse gjennom landet. Regjeringen og Saudi-Arabia frykter at Iran og Libya forsøker å blåse under motsetningene.
Det er en farlig utvikling når det kommer hevnagrep som rammer shiaer blindt. Motorsykkelen som eksploderte utenfor en moske fredag, drepte 18 og såret et førtitall.
Seks soldater og seks opprørere ble drept i kamper natt til søndag i Saada i Nord-Jemen.
Opprørsleder Abdel Malak al-Hawthi truer med full krig.
ebel leader Abdel Malak al-Hawthi told The Associated Press on Sunday that tribal chiefs have stepped in to mediate a new cease-fire, but warned that his group would escalate fighting «if the government insists on the option of war.»
«New fronts will be opened, not in Saada, not in north Yemen, but all over Yemen,» said al-Hawthi. «We have the potential for that.»
The Shiite fighters signed two cease-fire agreements with the government in June 2007 and January of this year, but sporadic violence continues.
The rebels say the government is corrupt and too closely allied with the West. The government has charged al-Hawthi with sedition, forming an illegal armed group and inciting anti-American sentiment.
Many officials in Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and in Yemen’s government suspect Iran and Libya support al-Hawthi. Sunni governments in the region suspect Shiite Iran is trying to increase its influence by supporting Shiite groups like the militias in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
