| Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi حسين بدر الدين الحوثي | |
|---|---|
| File:Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi yemen afp220.jpg | |
| Born | 1956 |
| Died | September 10, 2004 (aged 47–48) |
| Place of birth | Yemen |
| Place of death | Marran district, Saada Governorate, Yemen |
| Allegiance | Shahab al-Munimin |
| Battles/wars | Sa'dah Insurgency |
Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi (Arabic: حسين بدر الدين الحوثي; also spelled Hussein Badr Eddin al-Houthi) (1956 – 10 September 2004) was a Zaidi religious leader and former member of the Yemeni parliament for the Al-Haqq Islamic party between 1993 and 1997. He was an instrumental figure in the Sa'dah conflict against the Yemeni government, which began in 2004. Al-Houthi, who was a one-time rising political aspirant in Yemen, had wide religious and tribal backing in northern Yemen's mountainous regions. Al-Houthi was accused by the Ali Abdullah Saleh regime of trying to set himself up as Imam, of setting up unlicensed religious centers, of creating an armed group called Shabab al-Muomineen (English: Believing Youth), and of staging violent anti-American and anti-Israeli protests, as Al-Houthi's followers felt Yemen's government was too closely allied with the United States.[1][2]
According to a Sheik al-Houthi disciple, he had lived part of his life with his family in Qom, Iran. He claimed also that Al-Houthi's relationship with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was similar to Hizbullah's leader Hassan Nasrallah.[3]
On 18 June 2004, Yemeni police arrested 640 followers of Hussein who were demonstrating in front of the Sana'a Grand Mosque, and two days later the Yemeni government offered a bounty of $55,000.00 for al-Houthi's capture and launched an operation aimed at ending his alleged rebellion.[4] In July, Yemen Army forces had killed 25 al-Houthi supporters and upgraded the bounty for the Shi'ite cleric to $75,500.00 (10 million rials).[5] After months of battles between Yemeni security forces and the Believing Youth, on 10 September the Yemeni Interior and Defense Ministries released a statement in which they declared that Sheikh al-Houthi had been killed with twenty of his aides in the Marran district, Saada Governorate.[2][6]
On 5 June 2013, tens of thousands of Yemeni Shi'ites attended the re-burial of the remains of al-Houthi in Sa'dah, where armed rebels were deployed in large numbers. The new Yemeni government had turned over the remains of al-Houthi to his family on 28 December 2012[7] as a goodwill gesture to bolster national reconciliation talks. The previous government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had stepped down in 2012 after a popular uprising, originally buried al-Houthi in 2004 at the Sana'a central prison to prevent his grave becoming a shrine for the Zaidis. A representative of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi attended the funeral, but a Houthi spokesman accused the central government of refusing to give visas to several dignitaries who wanted to travel to Yemen to attend the ceremony, and of tearing down pictures of al-Houthi put up in the Yemeni capital.[8]
The Zaydi militants, known as the Houthis, take their name from al-Houthi, his brothers Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Yahia Badreddin al-Houthi are Abdul-Karim al-Houthi also leaders of the Houthi Rebels.
References[]
- ↑ "Yemen continues anti-cleric drive". BBC News. 9 August 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3547906.stm. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "al-Shabab al-Mum’en / Shabab al-Moumineen (Believing Youth)". GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/shabab-al-moumineen.htm. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
- ↑ Yemeni Shi'ite Cleric and Houthi Disciple 'Issam Al-'Imad: Our Leader Houthi is Close to Khamenei; We Are Influenced Religiously and Ideologically By Iran Special Dispatch No.2627, MEMRI, 2 November 2009
- ↑ Iris Glosemeyer and Don Reneau, "Local Conflict, Global Spin: An Uprising in the Yemen Highlands," Middle East Report, No. 232 (Autumn 2004), pp. 44-46
- ↑ "Yemen kills cleric's followers, offers reward". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 July 2004. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/10/1089000402822.html. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ↑ "Yemeni forces kill rebel cleric". BBC News. 9 October 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3643600.stm. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
- ↑ Yemeni Regime Releases Body of the Shiite Leader of al Houthi Movement After 9 Years ABNA.ir, 2 June 2013
- ↑ "Yemenis bury remains of founder of Houthi rebel group". Reuters. 5 June 2013. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/05/us-yemen-burial-houthis-idUSBRE9540WP20130605. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
The original article can be found at Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi and the edit history here.