Friday, February 6, 2015

Shiite rebels take power in Yemen, fan fears of civil war

Yemen, as Obama declared, is one if his foreign policy success stories.
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's Shiite rebels proclaimed a formal takeover of the Arab nation Friday, dissolving parliament in a dramatic move that completes their power grab in the region's poorest nation where an al-Qaida terrorist offshoot flourishes.

Angry demonstrators protested the rebels' move in street rallies in several cities, raising fears of a full-blown sectarian conflict between Yemen's new Shiite tribal rulers, known as Houthis, and the disenfranchised Sunni majority.

The unrest could strengthen Yemen's al-Qaida branch, considered the world's most dangerous wing of the terror movement, and complicate U.S. counter-terrorism operations in Saudi Arabia's southern neighbor. While Houthi rebels are bitter enemies to al-Qaida, they also are hostile to the United States, and frosty to the predominantly Sunni Saudis. The region's Shiite powerhouse, Iran, looms as a potential key backer.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the United States was "deeply concerned with this unilateral step," but insisted the Houthis' declaration as the true government of Yemen following a four-month insurrection would not affect U.S. counterterrorism efforts there.

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We have an f'n idiot in the White House.