Saudis 'in a panic mode' as Shi'ite rebels move North from Yemen
LONDON — Jordan has sent several
hundred troops from its special operations forces to help the Saudi
military with its many Shi'ite units contain the Yemeni Shi'ite rebellion, which has spread deep into the Arab
kingdom.
Western intelligence sources said Jordan's King Abdullah sent the SOF units to Saudi Arabia in November 2009. The sources
said the Jordanian king was acting on an urgent request from his Saudi
counterpart for elite soldiers who could hunt for Iranian-backed Shi'ite
rebels in both Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen.
"The Saudis are in a panic mode and don't have the troops or
capabilities to stop the Yemeni Shi'ites," an intelligence source said.
The sources said Riyad's need for foreign forces stemmed from a refusal
by Shi'ite-dominated Saudi units to fight the Believing Youth. They said
this has led to the dismantling of several local security units familiar
with the Saudi-Yemeni border.
Saudi officials have not confirmed the assertion of the Western
intelligence sources. But on Nov. 27, Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince
Khaled Bin Sultan acknowledged that Yemeni Shi'ite fighters held at least
two southern Saudi villages for nearly a month, Middle East Newsline reported. Later, officials said 15,000
Saudis had been evacuated from their homes.
The sources said Jordan has been the only Arab League state to respond
to Saudi appeals for help in fighting the Iranian-backed Believing Youth
movement. Believing Youth has been fighting an intermittent war in northern
Yemen since 2004, but in November 2009 invaded southern Saudi Arabia and
captured several border villages.
"The Saudi air force has been heavily bombing villages inside Yemen, but
this has not made a dent in the capabilities of the Shi'ite rebels," the
source said. "They have been well-trained by Iran and Hizbullah and have
moved steadily north in Saudi Arabia."
The Saudi military has focused on trying to impose a blockade on
northern Yemen. The Royal Saudi Naval Forces has bolstered its presence with
at least four fast attack craft and missile boats and reported the
destruction of weapons smuggling ships from neighboring Somalia.
"The infiltrating terrorists intended to attack our nation when they
encroached upon our territories and terrorized our peaceful people," King
Abdullah said in an address to his troops. "Undeterred by religion or
ethical values, the intruders shed the blood of the people."
Comments
Why in such a panic? Surely the rebels know that Moslem-on-Moslem killing is forbidden. At least, that's what the Ft. Hood, Texas attacker, Nalik Hasan gave as his reason for trying to get out of being deployed to Afghanistan. He couldn't kill his Moslem brothers, but he sure felt no compunction about killing fellow soldiers. Maybe he was just scared (like the Saudis) that he would fall into the hands of Moslem rebels like the "Believing Youth", who evidently don't know or don't believe it's forbidden.
