BAGHDAD // The Houthis, a branch of Shia Islam fighting a rebellion in Yemen, do not have political offices in Iraq and have no plans to set them up, according to a leading Houthi scholar based in Najaf.
Claims that Iraqi Shiites were backing the Yemeni rebels developed into a diplomatic incident earlier this month after Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the group received backing from inside Iraq and Iran.
Sheikh Ali Mohammad al Yamani Aharzai, a leading Houthi religious cleric living in Najaf, a major centre for Shia Islam in southern Iraq, denied claims the Houthis in Iraq were rallying support for the ongoing war.
"There is no office for the Houthi group and if we talk about the situation in Yemen, we do so as individual citizens living in Iraq," he said in a telephone interview. "We appeal to the Yemeni government to stop military operations immediately, to return to the negotiating table and to apply the law and the constitution.
"What has happened in Sa'ada [a province in northern Yemen] is an explicit and unequivocal violation of the constitution."
Houthi rebels have been fighting against Yemeni government forces in Sa'ada on and off since 2004, but the government launched an all-out assault on August 11 and in recent weeks jets have bombed Houthi areas of Sa'ada city. The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian disaster, with up to 100,000 people expected to flee the northern region to escape the rising violence.
The rebels say they are the victims of religious discrimination by dictatorial central authorities. Northern Yemen is dominated by followers of the Zaidi doctrine, while the south is mainly Sunni.
The conflict has troubling international dimensions, with fears it has become a battlefield in a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. North Yemen has a long land border with Saudi, a country that has expressed fears about the growing power of Shia Islam in the region.
While the Yemeni authorities have accused Iran and Iraqi Shia factions of supporting the rebels, the leader of the Houthis' armed faction in Yemen said the Saudi air force had taken part in attacks on the group and that Sunni extremists had been deployed to fight alongside government forces.
Iraq also appears in danger of getting sucked into the war, at least politically. Hamam Hamoudi, the head of the Iraqi parliament's foreign relations committee, said the Yemeni government was sheltering wanted members of the Iraqi Baath Party, which is still fighting against the Baghdad authorities. He suggested allowing the Houthis to establish offices in Iraq in retaliation.
Parliamentary officials were quick to point out that Mr Hamoudi's comments were his opinion and neither Iraqi government policy or representative of parliament's views.
Iraq's Sadrist bloc, the movement accused of supporting the Houthis, also divorced itself from the conflict and has denied aiding the insurgents.
Mr Aharzai, the Houthi scholar who has been based in Najaf for almost a decade, similarly distanced himself and Iraq's Shia institutions from involvement in the war. He and other Houthi colleagues suspected of political activity were only in Iraq to study at its renowned Hawza, or Shia religious establishments, he said.
Students from across the world study in Najaf, home to some of Shia Islam's holiest sites and libraries containing ancient religious texts.
"The Hawza in Najaf do not interfere in the affairs of other countries," Mr Aharzai said.
Baghdad's mainstream political parties have not supported calls to set up a Houthi office in Iraq, despite the widespread belief that Yemen is now home to former regime loyalists responsible for crimes inside Iraq.
"Most of us reject the idea of a Houthi office here," said Salim Abdullah of the Iraqi Accord Front. "It would generate negative reactions from the neighbouring Arab countries at a time when we are trying to get rid of the armed groups and restore security and stability.
"The conflict between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces is internal and not a matter for Iraq. We do not need to bring ourselves extra problems."
nlatif@thenational.ae
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Read more from Johann Chacko
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
More from our neighbourhood series:
RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
NBA Finals results
Game 1: Warriors 124, Cavaliers 114
Game 2: Warriors 122, Cavaliers 103
Game 3: Cavaliers 102, Warriors 110
Game 4: In Cleveland, Sunday (Monday morning UAE)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Armies of Sand
By Kenneth Pollack (Oxford University Press)
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
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AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
AVOID SCAMMERS: TIPS FROM EMIRATES NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
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Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills