Houthis’ release of Saleh’s sons, conflicting reports, stumbling deal

Reports, mostly conflicting, on the reasons behind the delay in releasing members of late president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s family held by the Houthi coupist militia,  has caused a clamor.  The militia sized Saleh’s relatives last December when the Houthis assassinated him near the capital Sanaa.

The detained include, among others, Saleh’s sons, Madian and Salah, together with his nephew Mohammad Mohammad Saleh, and his brother’s grandchild Affash Tareq Saleh,  The issue was supposed to have been addressed as part of the prisoners’ file in the failed Geneva negotiations; the Houthi militia negotiators did not show up.

Local news reports in Yemen spoke of secret negotiations, through mediators, that led to agreeing to release Saleh’s sons only, not all his relatives. So far, none has been set free, and they are all still being held in a secret place in Sanaa, subjected to strict security, amid inhuman detention conditions.

According to the reports, the coupists offered the mediators crippling conditions to conclude a deal; the released will have to leave Yemen as soon as they are freed, and they will not join any military front, in addition to a huge ransom.

The Houthis aim from the deal to enable their injured commanders to receive medical treatment abroad, after they failed to do so in Sanaa hospitals, said Yemeni analyst, Mahmoud Al-Taher.

 On top of the injured come the group’s mastermind Abdullah Al-Shami, and Lebanese and Iranian military commanders.

 This is an issue of maximum importance for the Houhtis, who refused to attend the Geneva talks for peace, he added. They had even asked for an Omani plane, not a UN one, to carry their negotiating team to Geneva, so that they could take the wounded commanders out of the country, Al-Taher told The Reference.

Thanks to Iran-Oman rapprochement, the Houthis require that Saleh’s relatives leave Yemen on an Omani jet, and the militia will make the best use of the step on the media to affect Yemenis’ morale, claiming that the release is a part of a deal hammered with Ahmed bin Ali Abdullah Saleh, and his nephew Tareq, who leads the Republican Guard, and the resistance against the militia, Al-Taher explained.

According to the Houthi propaganda, the deal provides that Ahmed and Tareq will retire from public action, in return of setting free their relatives, Al-Taher stasted.

   “This is  really dangerous, as it will cause dismay among Yemeni people who have come to rely on the two men to save them from the Houthi clutches,” he stressed.

The whole matter is a part of a psychological war waged by the militia leaders against Yemenis, Al-Taher said.

The Saudi-led Arab Coalition Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, has been imposing an air blockade on Yemen, that does not allow a single jet out of the country without inspection. The Houthi coupists reject it and blame the coalition for the delay in releasing of Saleh’s  family.