"The Saudis are simply not equipped to fight such a war, and with the
exception of Jordan nobody is helping them," another diplomatic source said.
"The Americans are advising Saudi troops, but they don't know the region."
So far, Jordan has sent hundreds of elite combat forces to help battle
the Believing Youth, the sources said. But the Jordanians were not said to
have achieved the Saudi goal to repel incursions by the Yemeni
rebels, who have also taken over several border villages. At least 20,000
people have fled more than 240 villages in southern Saudi Arabia, Middle East Newsline reported.
"The Saudis are simply not equipped to fight such a war, and with the
exception of Jordan nobody is helping them," another diplomatic source said.
"The Americans are advising Saudi troops, but they don't know the region."
So far, Jordan has sent hundreds of elite combat forces to help battle
the Believing Youth, the sources said. But the Jordanians were not said to
have achieved the Saudi goal to repel incursions by the Yemeni
rebels, who have also taken over several border villages. At least 20,000
people have fled more than 240 villages in southern Saudi Arabia.
The sources said the Saudi military has been hard-pressed to defeat the
offensive by the Iranian-backed Believing Youth in the Arab kingdom. They
said the Shi'ite rebels were using mountain strongholds along the
1,500-kilometer Saudi-Yemeni border to penetrate deep into Saudi Arabia and
reach the huge Shi'ite population in the oil-rich Eastern Province.
On Dec. 22, Mubarak held talks with Saudi King Abdullah in Riyad during
a session said to focus on the Shi'ite rebellion. In the 1960s, Egypt
contributed thousands of troops to the Saudi war against Yemen.
On Dec. 22, Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled Bin Sultan
reported Saudi casualties in the war against the Believing Youth. Khaled
said 73 Saudis have been killed, 400 injured and 26 others missing during
clashes with the Shi'ite rebels.
"They have 24 hours to surrender, or we will destroy them," Khaled said.
