Saudis say pick up communications in Farsi among rebelsYemen rebels post alleged Saudi prisoner video
The military identity card posted by the Houthi rebels
DUBAI (Al Arabiya)
Yemeni rebels on Monday posted footage of a man they identified as one of several Saudi soldiers in their custody as Riyadh continued its offensive against the Shiite insurgents.Saudi Arabia launched air strikes on the northern Yemeni rebels last week after they crossed the border and said they had seized an area called Jabal al-Dukhan. On Friday, the rebels said they had captured several Saudi soldiers.The video showed a man in military uniform with facial wounds and an apparent leg injury receiving medical attention. It identified him as Staff Sergeant Ahmad Abdullah al-Omari.
They also posted a picture of a military identity card carrying Omari's name but the photograph alongside it showed little resemblance to the man in the video.Saudi Arabia has said four soldiers were missing, but denied they had been taken prisoner. The rebels have not said how many soldiers are in their hands.
Important documents
In the meantime, one of the Saudi soldiers reported missing returned to the kingdom on Monday with important maps and other military documents.The Saudi forces said they have also reported picking up communications in Farsi language among the rebels.The kingdom said on Sunday it had regained control of territory seized by the rebels.The world's top oil exporter has become increasingly anxious about instability in Yemen, which, as well as the Shiite insurgency in the north, faces separatist sentiment in the south and a growing threat from resurgent al-Qaeda fighters.In the past few weeks Houthi rebels have accused Saudi Arabia of allowing Yemeni forces to use its territory as a base to launch attacks against them, but the kingdom has denied the allegation. The rebels, referred to as Houthis after the clan of their leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, first took up arms against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government in 2004, citing political, economic and religious marginalization by the Western-backed administration.The conflict intensified in August when Yemen's army launched Operation Scorched Earth to crush the rebels.Aid groups, which have been given limited access to the northern provinces, say up to 150,000 people have fled their homes since 2004