New deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad as US troops are leaving

 American military vehicles on thir way out of Iraq. The last US combat units have left Iraq. Their departure was accompanied by a new wave of bomb attacks. (Photo Reuters)

Attacks in Baghdad have led to the deaths of at least 68 people with scores more injured.
In one strike early on Tuesday in a mostly Shia neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital, a bomb attached to a fuel truck exploded, killing eight people and wounding 44 more. The tanker, which was filled with kerosene, was blown up in the northwestern Ur neighbourhood.
Earlier in the day, at least 60 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at an army recruitment centre in the Iraqi capital. Iraqi officials said at least 125 other people were wounded in that blast, when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb as men queued outside the centre in central Baghdad. The attack occurred at the historical site of the country's defence ministry, a building that was turned into an army recruitment centre and military base after the 2003 US-led invasion.
Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh, reporting from Baghdad, said the centre was busy on Tuesday because the defence ministry had recently called on new recruits to join the army."According to a police source they were standing in the hundreds," he said. "Then a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt [and] wearing an army uniform was talking to those recruits, pretending that he was trying to get their names, so people gathered around him and he detonated his charge.This is the deadliest attack since the start of [the Muslim holy month of] Ramadan, and the deadliest perhaps in the last month or so."
Security forces have been frequent targets of attack since the start of army restructure after the US-led invasion.
Tuesday's attacks come two weeks ahead of a US deadline to cut its troop numbers to about 50,000 and a day after Iraqi lawmakers suspended talks on forming a new government.

Obama speaks out in favour of the right to build a mosque near Ground Zero

 President Obama finally has taken a stand. On 13 August, during the traditional iftar diner at the white House, he spoke in favour of the construction of the Cordoba Muslim Center:

Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities — particularly New York.  Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan.  The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country.  And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable.  So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders.  And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.
But let me be clear.  As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country.  (Applause.)  And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.  This is America.  And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable.  The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are.  The writ of the Founders must endure.
We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we must always honor those who led the response to that attack — from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us also remember who we’re fighting against, and what we’re fighting for.  Our enemies respect no religious freedom.  Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam — it’s a gross distortion of Islam.  These are not religious leaders — they’re terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children.  In fact, al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion — and that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.
So that's who we’re fighting against.  And the reason that we will win this fight is not simply the strength of our arms — it is the strength of our values.  The democracy that we uphold. The freedoms that we cherish.  The laws that we apply without regard to race, or religion, or wealth, or status.  Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us –- and that way of life, that quintessentially American creed, stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today.

It was high time. But at least he did speak out in favour of the traditional American values.

What to make of the stand the Anti Defamation League's now takes that Dutch ultra-rightist politician Geert Wilders had better stay home instead of  giving a speech on 9/11 against the construction of the Cordoba Centre? The ADL itself  spoke out against the construction (thereby foregoing all the principles that Obama defended in his Iftar speech and that the ADL itself professes to stand for as well. And now it denies Wilders the right to err in the same way. Sheer hypocrisie. The ADL should be ashamed of itself.

Lebanon defiant after US suspends military assistance

The Lebanese defence minister  Elias Murr has said on Wednesday that the country will refuse military assistance from the US should any aid come with conditions that weapons not be used against Israel. Murr said this after it was revealed that $100 million in US military assistance to Lebanon had been suspended last week.
The aid was halted due to fears that Hezbollah would manage to get hold of any arsenal provided. After Israel and Lebabon clashed at the border on 1 August. Concern was raised that Hezbollah holds influence over the Lebanese military and that the weapons could be used against Israel.
"If someone would like to help the army without restrictions or conditions, he is welcome," Murr said.
"But those who want to help the army on condition that it doesn't protect its territory, people and border from Israel, should keep their money - or give it to Israel instead," Murr said. "We will confront [Israel] with the capabilities that we have."

Howard Berman, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Monday that he had suspended assistance to Lebanon on August 2 amid growing concern in Congress. A day after the decision, fighting on the Lebanese-Israel border led to the death of two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and an Israeli officer. Berman, a strong supporter of Israel, said that the incident reaffirmed the concerns of Congress. Berman had used his legislative prerogative to place a suspension on the money. It remains to be seen how long the suspension will last.

 Update Sunday 15/8: Lebanese Defensie minister Elias Murr said that Lebanon has opened a special bank account to receive donations with which weapons can be bought to equip the Lebanese army.  Murr said that he and he father already donated $ 670.000.

Nasrallah incriminates Israel but does not deliver proof

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbollah, during his press conference of Monday night, made quite an impression, but failed to deliver evidence that Israel was implicated in the killing of Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. He himself admitted that it was not convincing proof.
People had been looking forward to Nasrallah's presentation., as he had promised to deliver indications for Israels guilt. And quite a press conference it was with visual effects, music videotapes. Nasrallah spoke at length about the extensive network of Israeli spies in Lebanon that recently has been uncovered and gave examples of how these spies not only have Israel complete access to Lebabon's telecomunications wetworks and their data, but were also implicated in several attacks on and (failed) attempts on the lives of Lebanes leaders, like for instance Nabih Berri, the speaker of parliament.
The most interesting of Nasrallah's revelations was that Hizbollah hs found a way to intercept and decode the images of Isareli (unmanned) spy planes. In his press conference Nasrallah showed several of these pictures, one of which had to do with the murder of Hariri. It was footage of Hariri's home in Saida (Sidon), and some of the itinery his motorcadewith hus armoured limousine usually took. Nasrallah said that at least part of the footage showed places wewre Hizbollah has no presence at all, which was an indication that the Israeli's were taking these pictures for quite different purposes. He pointed, for instance at the way the Israeli's seemd to be particlarly intrested in places were Hariri's motorcade had to slow down because it had to take turns etc. At these spots the planes took pictures from different angles.
Again, it was no proof that Isarel had to do with the murder, but it seems quite an acchievement that Hizbollah is able to break in into these communications of the Israelis. That Nasrallahs findings will influence tthe Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) about the murder of Hariri (and 22 others) is highly unlikely. The STL will deliver its conclusions shortly. It is expected, as Hasrallah had made known earlier, that members of Hizbollah will be implicated. Nasrallah has said that Hizbollah will not accept these conclusions. He has called the STL an instrument of Israel.

Update 11/8 The Internationale Tribunal has asked Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to share the information he has on the murder of Hariri with the tribunal. reports the Daily Star.   

Iran, the US and scapegoats

Gary Sick has -as usual - some remarks on his blog about Iran (and Obama's dilemma with Iran) that are morethan worthwile to think about:

The key question about Iran today is not whether it will be attacked or collapse under sanctions. It is whether Iran is capable under its present leadership to take a sober decision about how to deal with the outside world. The Revolutionary Guards have established a dominant position in Iran’s military, its economy, and its politics. Iran increasingly comes to resemble the corporatist states of southern and eastern Europe in the 1920s and ‘30s that we call fascist. Iran is conducting an interior battle with its own demons, from the millenarians on the far right who choose to believe that Khamene`i  is the personal representative of God on earth, to the pragmatic conservatives who simply want a more responsible leadership, to the reformists of the Green movement whose objective is to put the “republic” back into the Islamic Republic by giving the people a greater voice.

This is a yeasty and unpredictable mix. No one knows what is going to happen next.

And this is the reality that the Obama administration must deal with. The danger is not that the administration will back the wrong horse in Iran. The real danger is that the Obama administration will be so preoccupied with domestic American politics and its constant demand to look tough when dealing with Iran that it will inadvertently rescue this cruel but hapless regime from its own ineptitude by providing a convenient scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in Iran.

Th whole article is to be found here 

Mosque at Ground Zero: That's bullshit

Dutch parliamentaran and islam basher Geert Wilders is going to protest the building of the mosque at 9/11 on 9/11. He's been invited by  'Stop the Islamization of America' of the loonies Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer and will be in the convenient company of Republican bigots and Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League who seems to have lost his way.
Bullshit, yes, definitely. More bullshit.

Brookings poll: majority in Arab world in favour of Iran obtaining nuclear arms

Whoever claims to reflect the feelings  of people in the Middle East in general, should first read the latest results of the yearly poll of the Brookings Institute in cooperation with the University of Maryland. The poll is a yearly event and most of the results are more or less consistent with results obtained in the years before. But some are remarkable nonetheless. Take the fact that Israel and the US have repeatedly stressed how the Arab world presumably is afraid of an Iranian nuclear bomb. The exact opposite is the case: 57% of the respondents think that the situation in the Middle East would improve if Iran obtained the bomb (up from 29% in 2009). A large majority (77%) thinks that Iran has a right to pursue a nuclear program anyhow, and 92% thinks it has peaceful purposes.

The poll was taken  in July 2010 among 3.976 respondents spread over Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon. Less spectacular than the answers concerning Iran as far as I'm concerned, but in spite of that more widely quoted, was the drop in popularity of US president Obama. I for me could hardly be suprised that by now 62% turns out to have a negative picture of him, as opposed to only 23% last year. The reason is - no surprises here - his policy towards Israel-Palestine (61%). Iraq takes only second place with 27%. (I wrote 'no surprises here'', but for some this outcome might have the function that it reminds them that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict still plays a major role in shaping Arab public opinion. In this respect  it is ironic that just last week The New York Times gave the opportunity to the third rate Israeli historian Ephraim Karsh to write an OpEd wherein he revived the old contention that nobody in the Arab world cared about the Palestinian case so that they did best to accept whatever Israel these days offered them).

Other results: Hamas is slightly more popular than Fatah in the Arab world, but both don't score very high (13 and 7% respectively), whereas Palestinian unity is favoured by 70%. About half of the respondents (46%) think that the Palestinians need an independent, continguous state. A majority is prepared for peace if Israel gives up the1967 territories including East-Jeruzalem, but most think that this is likely going to happen in a near future.
Somewhat shocking might be the response to a question, newly introduced to the poll, about what the average Arab feels when he is watching a program or film about the Holocaust: 59% said to resent it, as it brings sympathy towards th Jews at the expense of Palestinians and Arabs, 29% said it had mixed feelings. It, no doubt, is a response to what has become known among critics as 'Israel playing the holocaust card'. What is noteworthy, is that the resentment is highest in Morocco (85%), only to be beaten by the respondents in the UAE: 99%.
For the complete results of the poll click here. 

Two residents from Golan and one from Galilee charged with attempted kidnap and spying for Syria

Two residents of the Golan and one from northern Israel will be indicted by a Nazareth court on Thursday on charges they  spied for Syria, Haaretz reports. Fada Sha'ar (27, picture with 'oud) , his father Majd Sha'ar (58, picture in court building)) from Majdal Shams on the Golan and Mahmoud Masarwah from Bakaa al-Gharbiyeh will be charged with spying, contact with foreign agents and passing information to the enemy.All three were arrested last month in a case whose details have been kept under a gag order which has now been lifted. Also the mother of Fada Sha'ar, Mona, was arrested in connection with the case, but was later freed.
Fada Sha'ar was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport on July 10 when he returned from Paris. When police arrived to search his house in the Druze village of Majdal Shams clashes broke out between the residents of the village who attempted to prevent the police from entering the Sha'ar family's home. His father, Majd, was arrested a few weeks later. Masarwah is a well-known political activist from Baka al-Gharbiyeh, who has been active over recent years on behalf of political prisoners jailed in Israel. He has been arrested in the past and has spent some time in prison.
The indictment, filed by the State Prosecution's northern branch with the Nazareth District Court, claimed that Majed and Fada Sha'ar had been in contact with former Majdal Shams resident Madhat Salah, who moved to Syria, held a number of positions within the administration in Damascus and was in contact with local intelligence sources.  According to the indictment, Masarwa disclosed information on a Syrian pilot who had defected to Israel currently resides in Baqa el Gharbiya. Majed Sha'ar and Masarwa allegedly met Salah in Jordan, where they drew up the plan to kidnap the pilot, who they nicknamed "the bride", in exchange for a financial reward. The two returned to Israel and tried to locate the pilot. During another meeting with Salah and a Syrian agent, this time in Cairo, Sha'ar and Masarwa were asked about military bases in Israel. Salah gave Masarwa $1,000 and promised to give him more money.

The prosecution claims this activity, including efforts to track down the Syrian pilot, began in 2007 and continued through 2009.
In 2009, according to the indictment, Fada, who studied music in Damascus from 2002 to 2008, began relaying information regarding "the bride". Majed Sha'ar even obtained a sedative and syringes he planned to use in the kidnapping.
The second indictment provides details on how Majed and Masarwa filmed IDF bases located just a few kilometers from Baqa el Gharbiya. They planned to transfer the tapes to Syria.
A third indictment claims the defendants passed on to their Syrian contact a sketch "marking the movement of IDF forces towards Syria in the event of a war.
According to the indictment, the drawing was meant to "mark the positioning of IDF tanks and planes in the Golan Heights."
The indictment further claimed that towards the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, while Majed was in Haifa, he spotted a submarine making its way north. He relayed the information to Fada and warned of a possible Israeli attack on Syria.

Nasrallah blames Israel for Hariri murder and promises to present evidence on Monday

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday accused Israel of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri  and said he would  present evidence to that effect at a news conference next Monday. The promise to come with such evidence was the most important remark during his prescheduled speech, which was broadcasted via tv-screens in South-Beirut.

The speech was meant to mark the fourth anniversary of the 2006 war in Lebanon which ended on 14 August, and was held somewhat earlier because of the beginning of Ramadan next week.

Nasrallah's remarks about the killing of Hariri had to do with  the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) about the 2005 murder of Hariri, which is going to deliver its verdict soon. Nasrallah  said in a spress conference in July that he is aware of the fact that the STL will indict members of Hizbullah. According to Nasrallah this is unacceptable and he pointed at the fact that there are serious doubts about the trustworthiness of several witnesses. Also he made the point that the recent arrests of  several spies for Israel who were working int he telecom sector (which took place in the franmework of a wave of the dtection of more than 70 spy cases) casts serious doubts on the outcome of the STL, as telecom data played an important role in its findings. According to him the STL in this way was an instrument of Israel.
The probability that Hizbullah will be indicted in the Hariri case caused a new wave of tension in Lebabon. It was for that reason that king Abdallah of Saudi-Arabia together with president Assad of Syria payed  a  visit to Lebanon last weekend. The entente between the two leaders, of which the Saudi king is an ally of the Lebanese prime minister Hariri jr and the Syrian president has strong ties with Hizbullah, was an exercise to calm the emotions in Beirut, to save the cabinet of which Hizbullah is a member, and to block the way for a new outburst of armd onflict like in 2008. An exercise, by the way, that seems largely to have worked.
In his speech. Nasrallah again raised the point that the witnesses in the STL should be scrutinized a second time. But the main theme of his speech on this day of clashes between the Lebanese and Israeli armies was about the relations between the army and the 'resistance'.

Nasrallah praised the Lebanese army warmly for its efforts, but made clear that Hizbullah fighters had been ordered to stay out of the fighting. He told his audience that if Hizbollah would have participated some could have thought that it was an instument in the hands of president Assad who on Sunday warned for the possiblity of a new war, or that it  wanted to outshine the Lebanese army, or distract the attention from accusations in the STL. 'We were ready to fight and defend … but the wisdom, interest and loyalty meant that the resistance put itself at the disposal of the army which was dealing with the confrontation,” Nasrallah said. 'We informed the president that we will take no action and similarly informed the prime minister and the speaker,” he added.

Nasrallah made clear, however, that Hizbullah is ready for  future cooperation with the army to protect the country against Israeli threats. 'The army protects the resistance and the resistance protects the army; this is the formula that protects Lebanon,' Nasrallah said.

Israel and Lebanon clash at border, three Lebanese and one Israeli killed

According to Hezbollah's Al-Manar tv one Israeli lieutenant colonel was killed and two Israeli soldiers were wounded in todays's clashes. For hours there was no Israeli confirmation. However,  AFP published this photo of a helicopter evacuating casualties.  

Is this the opening act of a new round of fighting? Israeli and Lebanese troops exchanged fire on Tuesday on the Israel-Lebanon border, Reuters reported. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed, as well as Assaf Abou Rahhal, a Lebanese journalist with the newspaper Al-Akhbar. Hezbollah's tv Al-Manar reported that one its journalists, Ali Cheaib, was injured. Al-Manar tv also reported that an Israeli lieutenant colonel got killed as well, and others wounded. Hours later the Israeli army confirmed the death of the lieutenant colonel Dov Harari (45), while a reserve captain was seriously wounded.  

According to Israeli sources the clashes started when Israeli army engineers came under fire from Lebanese soldiers while working along the frontier. The troops then shot back, according to Israel.  Lebanse security sources said that it started when the Israelis wanted to cut down a tree on Lebanons side of the border.  The Lebanese army fired warning shots with light weapons and the Israelis answered by shelling the Lebanese border village of Adaysseh, thereby wounding one Lebanese soldier and one civilian. Lateron also rockets were fired from an Israeli helicopter that overflew the village, thereby killing two soldiers and the journalist, while four others were wounded and military vehicles were destroyed.

 Photo Reuters

This picture lateron emerged which clearly shows that the Israelis were working on the Lebanese side of the border. The question is: Why? The Lebanese army at a press conference, covered by Patrcik Galey of the Daily Star, stated that the Israelis were working over the 'blue line' around Adaysseh and ignored attempts of Unifil to stop them, as well as warning shots the Lebanese army fired.

Israëls minister of Defense Ehud Barak later in the day in a declaration said that Israël is not going to tolerate attacks on its patrols within its borders. General Gadi Eizenkott, the commander of Israels northern sector, called it an 'ambush on an IDF unit operating inside Israeli territory'. It is noteworthy that there is a differnce between what is called the 'technical border' (the fence) and what is called 'the blue line' (a demarcation of  the actual border executed by the UN in 2000). So Israel may have been operating on its side of the blue line, but that still does not explain why it did so, in spite of  the fact that both Lebanon and Unifil deny Israeli claims that it coordinated the trimming in advance. Patrick Galey of the Daily Star specifically asked Unifil about this Israeli claim and got the aswer that Unifil was unaware of it. Even more telling was Ynet which revealed, quoting Al-Jazeera, that Israel two days earlier tried to coordinate the bush trimming operation with Lebanon, only to be met with a refusal to do so..
The more the story continues, the more it becomes apparent who's to blame for this event.

Update wednesday 4-8-10: Unifil today ruled that the tree Israel wanted to cut was on the Israeli side of the blue line. Dutch public radio, known for its near total lack of a critical approach towards Israel,  repeated this news several times, as if this exonerated Israel from all culpability. The radio thereby left out that Lebanon disputes the tracé of the blue line at this spot, 'as Israel does at others'. (Beirut said this in a declaration).
It remains an open question why not too many western media posed questions like whether Israel shouldn't have tried harder to coordinate its trimming operation with the Lebanese. The way it acted had all the characteristics of a provocation. Is it too far fetched to suspect that Tel Aviv wanted to test the Lebanese reaction? More specifically that of Hezbollah? (for this reaction see my post on Nasrallah's speech, held the same day).
 In any case the way the newspaper Haaretz brings the news today as if Israel was completely in its right,  seems to miss the point. Israel in the meantime, decided to return to the spot on Wednesday in order to finish the tree cutting job, thereby demonstrating for the xth time its total lack of respect for its neighbours.

Update 2 wednesday 4-8-10: Patrick Galey again, on twitter:  ''1) Just been leaked an internal British embassy memo: IDF informed UNIFIL of needing 2 cross beyond the technical fence 2 cut down bushes...
2) UNIFIL had relayed the message to the LAF. The LAF said they needed 24 hours notice before allowing the IDF to cross... 3) the IDF chose to cross anyway and were spotted by LAF patrol. Hence the incident." 

Israel says it's willing to cooperate with UN-inquiry into flotilla attack

A forum of senior Israeli ministers agreed Monday to a UN inquiry into the commando raid of an aid flotilla which left nine civilians dead, Israeli media reported. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon described the approval as “unprecedented,” and said it will be the first time Israel has ever participated in a UN investigation of its military.
Negotiations will decide the mandate and composition of the official committee. Ban suggested that a panel headed by New Zealand’s former prime minister Geoffrey Palmer reviews Turkish and Israeli investigations before an official committee is established. Palmer’s deputy would be outgoing Columbian President Alvaro Uribe, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
Israel had sofar resisted international pressure calling for an external inquiry into the incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it is in Israel's national interest “to ensure that the factual truth regarding the flotilla incident would be exposed for the world to see,” Haaretz reported. The decision followed Ban’s meeting with Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak in New York on Friday.
The question that has to answered in the future is: is this just another tactical manoeuvre? Will there be endless  negotiations about the composition of the commission and the modalities of the inquiry till everbody is too tired to continue, or is this going to be genuine? Who dares a bet?

Houthis and Yemeni government on the brink of new round of fighting

There is growing concern that another round of fighting between the army and Houthi rebels in the northern governorates of Saada and Amran is imminent. Clashes have escalated in recent days and an 11 February ceasefire has all but broken down. The Houthis had captured 200 of the army’s Republican Guards, taken control of army sites and forced government staff to leave various Saada districts, said Sheikh Yahya al-Jaradi, chief mediator in the conflict, on 27 July.
"Houthis transferred the captured soldiers from Harf Sufyan District in Amran to Matra and Naqaa in Saada," he said. "They don't want peace. They are forcing civilians to leave their homes; they have started digging in again in mountain-top positions." Al-Jaradi said the rebels had exploited the five-month truce to buy more weapons and dig more trenches. 

Local independent news website marebpress.net reported on 27 July that 17 corpses of Houthi gunmen were found near the house of pro-government tribal leader Sheikh Saghir Bin Aziz. "The house was bombed by Houthis on 26 July and Bin Aziz was injured,” it said. 

A Yemeni political analyst, who asked not to be named, described the situation as the worst since the February truce. "Alarm bells are ringing. We have witnessed too many violations and too much violence. A seventh round of clashes is looming,” he told IRIN. "Neither side wants peace. The government supports Bin Aziz tribesmen against Houthis and the latter never hesitate to kill.´
Yahya al-Houthi, political leader of the Houthis, brother of rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi and in self-imposed exile in Germany since 2005, admitted that his followers had captured troops. "They [the soldiers] came to kill our women and children. Twenty members of my family, mostly women and children, were killed by the government’s soldiers," he said in a live interview with Al Jazeera TV on 27 July.
Yemeni President Ali Saleh said the government did not want another war and accused the Houthis of violating the ceasefire agreement on a daily basis. "Stop jeopardizing security and stability in Saada Governorate," he said at a 25 July military ceremony in Sanaa. "The Houthis are defying the state and don't want the ceasefire to hold."
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that only about 14,000 of the 324,000 people displaced by the six-year war - most since the sixth round of clashes began in mid-August 2009 - have returned to their places of origin. 

Update Tuesday 3/8: The Houthis have released the more than  200 captured soldiers. Also  in view of the approach of Ramadhan they are expected to release most of their remaining 100 or so prisoners, among which are wounded soldiers. However, they still block the main road between the northern city Sa'ada and the capital, Sanaa. Also they remain in two military strong points they have overrun, Al-Labda and Murshid Mountain.