Yemeni tribesmen seek to frustrate Houthi advance

Houthi militia faced resistance in a push to gain territory in central Yemen's oil-rich Marib province on Thursday.

The province has increasingly become a flashpoint in recent months, with the Shiite Houthis seeking to expand their influence across Yemen after taking control of the capital, Sanaa. The Houthi are understood to want to replace Marib governor Gen. Ali Mohsen.

A local source said that the Houthis killed two Sunni tribesmen in an ambush, but that several of the Houthis - who were trying to capture an army base - were also killed.

"The Houthis came with many fighters with the aim of storming the base of the 7th Brigade and tribesmen are fighting them back," one local leader told Reuters.

Sunni tribes rally reinforcements

Tribal leader Sheikh Hamad bin Waheet told Reuters that tribesmen had agreed with both the army and provincial governor to protect the province from Houthis or other aggressors. Bin Waheet said tribesmen from provinces to the north and south of Marib were also sending reinforcements.

Marib has a significant portion of Yemen's oil reserves and other energy infrastructure, producing more than half its electricity and possessing about half of the country's gas fields.

The fighting comes after Houthis in the capital reached a deal on Wednesday with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, welcoming his proposed concessions on power sharing with the Shiite and other minorities.

Gunmen 'may leave within days'

However, gunmen from the Houthi - also known as Ansarullah - still remained outside the presidential palace in positions they had agreed to stand down from, as part of the agreement. A member of the Houthi political leadership, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, said the agreement showed that his side was acting in good faith.

"The latest agreement is a series of timed measures to implement the peace and partnership accord, which shows that Ansarullah were not planning to undermine the political process," Houthi politburo member al-Bukhaiti told Reuters.

Al-Bukhaiti said that gunmen might withdraw from positions they seized around the presidential residence earlier this week in the next few days.

The Houthis' increasing influence represents a power shift in Yemeni politics, and has implications in the regional struggle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran.

The Houthi movement began to promote a revival of the Zaidi brach of Shiite Islam, but its members have been accused by the Yemeni government of seeking to impose their religious law on the rest of the country.

rc/msh (Reuters, AFP, dpa)