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### Viewing cable 09SANAA2185, WHO ARE THE HOUTHIS, PART ONE: WHAT ARE THEY

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09SANAA2185 | 2009-12-09 13:16 | 2011-05-04 00:00 | SECRET//NOFORN | Embassy Sanaa

Appears in these articles:
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/9133
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/9134
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/9133
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/9143
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/9144
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/9145
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10273
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10271
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10274
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10271
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10276
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10276
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10275
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10276
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/10272

`

    VZCZCXYZ0001
    RR RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHYN #2185/01 3431316
    ZNY SSSSS ZZH
    R 091316Z DEC 09
    FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3352
    INFO RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0188
    RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0119
    RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 1715
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
    RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

` `

    S E C R E T SANAA 002185

    NOFORN
    SIPDIS

    FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD AND INR JYAPHE

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2019
    TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL SA YM
    SUBJECT: WHO ARE THE HOUTHIS, PART ONE: WHAT ARE THEY
    FIGHTING FOR?

    REF: A. SANAA 2117
         ¶B. SANAA 1939

    Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

    ¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY.  Given the Houthis' opacity and the
    government's exaggerated claims about their goals, it is
    difficult to know what exactly they are fighting for.  The
    ROYG accuses the Houthis of wanting to restore clerical rule
    in Yemen, which they deny, insisting instead that they want
    basic citizenship rights and religious freedoms.  Although
    some Yemeni analysts believe the Houthis' goals may be
    broader, possibly including political control of Sa'ada
    governorate, most informed observers do not believe that the
    Houthis desire to re-establish the imamate or expand their
    control beyond Sa'ada.  In November 2009, the Houthis
    presented President Saleh with a list of conditions for
    guaranteeing a final resolution to the conflict.  These
    include reconstruction and compensation for war-time damage
    and looting, genuine economic development and delivery of
    basic services, and an end to cultural and political
    discrimination against Zaydis, who form the majority of
    Sa'ada governorate's population.  The Houthis, feeling that
    Zaydi Shi'ism is under threat from the growing influence of
    Sunni Salafism, also reportedly seek to establish their own
    madrasas (religious schools) and a university for Zaydi
    jurisprudence in order to preserve their unique identity,
    religious beliefs, and practices.  Understanding the Houthis'
    objectives can help shape a political solution to this
    complex conflict, though additional factors, such as tribal
    vendettas, will also need to be taken into account in order
    to bring the fighting to an end.  END SUMMARY.

    ¶2.  (SBU) The information in this cable is compiled from
    PolOff interviews with sources who have first-hand contact
    with the Houthis, including journalists, relief workers, ROYG
    officials, and Houthi mediator and Haq party chief Hassan
    Zaid.  (Note: It is Post's policy not to communicate directly
    with the Houthis due to ROYG sensitivity.  End Note.)

    WHAT DO THEY WANT?
    ------------------

    ¶3. (S/NF) Given the opacity of the Houthi rebels in the
    northern governorate of Sa'ada, as well as the government's
    misleading claims about the group's goals, it is difficult to
    answer the question, "What are the Houthis fighting for?"
    They are rhetorically anti-American, painting the slogan
    "Death to America" on buildings and boulders throughout
    Sa'ada governorate, but they have not targeted U.S. citizens
    or interests.  The Houthis are also anti-Israeli and
    anti-Semitic, and their threats against the Jewish community
    in Sa'ada (one of only two remaining Jewish communities in
    Yemen) caused the Jews to relocate to Sana'a in 2007.

    EVOLVING OBJECTIVES
    -------------------

    ¶4.  (SBU) The Houthis' objectives have evolved since the
    first Sa'ada war began in June 2004, when the Houthis were a
    small group of fighters defending a member of their family,
    MP Hussein al-Houthi, from arrest.  (Note: Hussein al-Houthi
    was reportedly one of 21 brothers, including current leaders
    Abdul-Malik and Yahya.  End Note.)  For almost three months
    Houthi and his supporters, who at that time claimed
    allegiance to the state, fought off government troops from
    his stronghold in the Marran Mountains, until he was killed
    on September 10, 2004.  In the years since, as the Houthis
    have gained supporters and territories, the group's
    objectives have expanded while becoming even murkier.
    According to the International Crisis Group, there is no
    evidence of a coherent ideology or political program: "Some
    groups fighting the government, though referred to as
    Houthis, appear motivated by multiple, mostly non-ideological
    factors having little in common with the leadership's
    proclaimed grievances."  These factors include
    disenfranchisement with the ROYG and the need to avenge the
    killings of family members or tribesmen unless blood money is
    paid.

    ROYG ACCUSATIONS ABOUT HOUTHI GOALS
    -----------------------------------

    ¶5.  (S/NF) The ROYG accuses the Houthis of wanting to restore
    the clerical rule of the imamate overthrown in 1962 and

    impose draconian religious beliefs and practices on
    communities where they are in power.  Foreign Minister
    Abu-Bakr al-Qirbi said in an interview published in
    London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat on September 12 that the
    Houthis "consider the current presidential system illegal and
    not in accordance with their creed."  Colonel Akram al-Qassmi
    of the National Security Bureau (NSB) told PolOffs on
    November 18 that re-establishing the imamate is not the
    Houthis' main priority now, but it is part of their ideology.
     Instead, they are currently focusing on "standing up and
    strengthening" a Shi'a-dominated region along the
    Saudi-Yemeni border.  "With this deck of cards, the Houthis
    can abuse the Saudi and Yemeni governments," he said, much
    like Hizballah in Lebanon.  The ROYG )- along with many Arab
    governments in the region )- seeks to portray the Houthis as
    part of a regional, Iran-led Shi'ite conspiracy to expand
    influence and power at the expense of Sunni populations.

    ¶6.  (S/NF) The Houthis deny such goals, however, and as a
    result, many of the Houthis' pronouncements are more about
    what they do not stand for than what they do. The Houthis
    proclaimed on their website, "The authority's accusations
    about the imamate are just a media war...  We are not asking
    for positions, we are asking for rights and justice.  The
    essence of the crisis is political."  In a letter delivered
    to President Saleh on November 22, Houthi spokesman Mohammed
    Abdulsalam attempted to correct the record, saying, "We hope
    that you do not (believe) the propaganda presented to you
    that we want to restore the imamate or that we have anything
    against the republican system."  He goes on to explain, "We
    do not want from you more than the right of equal
    citizenship."  In the letter, Abdulsalam attributed the
    misunderstanding and marginalization of the Houthis to "the
    persistence of the official media to deal with us as if we
    are from another planet."

    BASIC CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS OR BROADER AMBITIONS?
    --------------------------------------------- -

    ¶7.  (S/NF) Houthi mediator Hassan Zaid, a Zaydi Hashemite
    from a prominent Sana'a family and chair of the Haqq party,
    the legitimate political arm of the Zaydi movement, told
    PolOff on November 21 that the Houthis are fighting in
    self-defense and will stop as soon as the ROYG ceases to
    attack them.  He explained that the Houthis' political goal
    is to "benefit from the protection of the Constitution and
    the laws," including equal citizenship and freedom of
    expression and religion.  Mohammed al-Qadhi, correspondent
    for Dubai-based The National, however, told PolOff that the
    Houthis' goals may be broader than securing certain religious
    and political freedoms.  The Houthis' fight is "no longer
    about self-defense," he said.  "They may have their own
    political ambitions now."  He believes that their fight is
    partially motivated by outrage at the open secret that
    President Saleh is grooming his son Ahmed Ali for the
    presidency.  According to Qadhi, Saleh "keeps singing a song
    that offends them," referring to how the ROYG prides itself
    on having "toppled the hereditary rule of the imamate" but is
    "doing the same thing (hereditary rule) under the umbrella of
    the republic."

    ¶8.  (C) Nabil al-Soufi of NewsYemen, who twice traveled
    secretly to Sa'ada governorate, told PolOff on November 18,
    "The Houthis have a political agenda, but the war they are
    waging lacks clear objectives."  He explained that the
    Houthis were dragged into the sixth war and have to keep
    fighting to defend themselves.  He believes their objective
    is to control Sa'ada governorate, not to spread Zaydi
    religious beliefs or to re-establish the imamate, although
    they use religious rhetoric to advance their political
    objectives.  U.S. academic Greg Johnsen, who has studied
    Yemeni politics for many years, has written, "Despite the
    religious rhetoric on all sides, the Houthis are primarily a
    group driven by the local politics of Sa'ada."  Chief among
    their complaints is the ROYG's "deliberate neglect" of the
    governorate and the traditional political elite's place
    within it.  The conflict also is believed to have originated
    as an inter-Zaydi battle of the social classes, as the
    Hashemite elite within the Zaydi sect felt excluded from
    their rightful place in government by Zaydis from lower
    social classes, such as Saleh.

    HOUTHIS' SPECIFIC DEMANDS
    -------------------------

    ¶9.  (S/NF) The Houthis have presented President Saleh with a
    list of their conditions for "guaranteeing a final
    resolution" to the conflict (ref a).  In addition to
    releasing prisoners (including 18 members of the Houthi
    family who are in prison in Sana'a, according to Zaid),
    compensating civilians for looted property, and
    reconstructing war-damaged infrastructure, the Houthis demand
    the "normalization" and "demilitarization" of life in
    Sa,ada" through the following steps:  1) the army's
    withdrawal from villages and farms in order to demilitarize
    public and private properties in Sa,ada; 2) genuine economic
    development and delivery of basic services; 3) end cultural
    and political discrimination against the Zaydi population;
    and 4) allow civil servants to return to their jobs and give
    them back-pay for the time they were separated from their
    posts.  According to NDI Deputy Director Murad Zafir, the
    Houthis are also seeking to establish a university for Zaydi
    jurisprudence, as various universities for Sunni
    jurisprudence already exist in Yemen.

    WAR WITH RELIGIOUS ROOTS OR RELIGIOUS WAR?
    ------------------------------------------

    ¶10.  (SBU) One of the deepest root causes of the conflict in
    Sa'ada is religious.  Over the past 20 years, Zaydis -) who
    have historically made up the majority of the governorate's
    population )- have felt increasingly threatened by the
    radical Sunni Salafism exported from Saudi Arabia (ref b).
    "Sa'ada is so Shi'a that even the stone is Shi'a," Abdulkader
    al-Hillal, former head of the Sa'ada Mediation Committee,
    told the Ambassador, quoting a Yemeni poet.  However,
    Sa'ada's unique Zaydi identity has been challenged by the
    establishment of Salafi schools and mosques in the
    governorate, and local residents founded a Zaydi revivalist
    group called the Believing Youth to teach young people about
    their Zaydi religion and history.  A branch of the Believing
    Youth later produced the more extreme Houthi ideology and
    organization.  NDI's Zafir told PolOff on November 21 that
    the Houthis are fighting to preserve their unique identity,
    religious beliefs and practices by seeking to establish their
    own schools and university.

    COMMENT
    -------

    ¶11.  (C) Contrary to the ROYG's claims, the Houthis do not
    appear to be fighting to restore clerical rule.  It is more
    likely that they are, as they claim, seeking greater local
    autonomy and respect for their religious beliefs and
    practices.  Understanding the Houthis' objectives can help
    shape a political solution to this complex conflict.  Yet
    even if such a settlement takes the Houthi leadership's
    grievances into account, the fighting will not end unless
    steps are taken to address the additional factors )- such as
    tribal vendettas -- that have motivated other individuals and
    tribes to join the Houthis' struggle despite not sharing
    their ideology.  END COMMENT.
    SECHE

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