The senior sheikh of the Yemen Yafi' tribe Fadhl Bin Muhammad Aidrous Al-Afifi has expressed his full support for measures taken by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to repel threats to Saudi territory from Yemeni infiltrators and condemned the latter for their “ulterior motives and hidden agendas.” “The Kingdom has every right to protect and defend its land and people from any danger or attack,” said Aidrous, who is also a member of Yemen's Shoura Council. “The Yemeni people support the Kingdom in all its actions to do so and repel the aggressors. It goes without saying that the security of Yemen is the security of the Kingdom.” He added that the “relationship between the countries is too strong to be affected by such attacks”. Sheikh Aidrous, speaking by telephone, described Houthi attacks as “irrational and unjustifiable”, and their recent defeat as “humiliating”, and urged them to lay down their weapons for good. “They should give up their guns if their demands are sincere, but they have other motives and hidden agendas, which can be seen in the types of weapons they have been using,” he said. “I see no genuine will or credibility in their initiatives. It's all just maneuvers and tactics.” According to Aidrous, the Houthis “wasted all the chances offered by the Yemeni government to rejoin society,” saying that they have instead “been fighting the government, its organizations and the country's scholars as well”. The situation in Sada'a in north Yemen requires first and foremost military action, Aidrous added. “The crisis has taken on a rebellious and mutinous dimension, making it impossible to look into demands which constitute a flagrant breach of the country's sovereignty and constitution,” he said. He also accused Iran of backing the “Houthi mutiny”, pointing to evidence in “their reaction to events from a distance”. Eye-to-eye with Al-Qaeda On the Houthis' relationship with Al-Qaeda, Aidrous believes they see eye-to-eye on one main point. “Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization with a clear agenda to overthrow governments and seize power which is the same political stance taken by the Houthis,” he said. Refuting claims that Al-Qaeada has earned support in Yemen through its acts of terrorism, Aidrous reminded of the opposition to the terrorist organization from Yemen's large tribes like the Yafi' and the tribes in the southern Abyan and Lahj provinces. “Most of the Al-Qaeda's members in Yemen are from other Arab countries, hiding in the mountains,” Airdous said. The comments from the sheikh of the Yafi' tribe follow those last month from the heads of Yemen's two largest tribes denouncing any interference with the security of Saudi Arabia or the targeting of its interests on the part of Al-Qaeda. Speaking by telephone, Sheikh Naji Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Shayef, head of the Bakeel tribe – the largest in Yemen – and advisor to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, condemned any use of the Republic of Yemen as a “springhead for threatening the security of the Kingdom and the peace of its people”, while Sheikh Sadiq Bin Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid, Yemen's most influential tribe, described the security of Yemen and Saudi Arabia as “inseparable.” “The tribes of the Bakeel, whose members number around seven million, stand together against the so-called Al-Qaeda in Yemen and its criminal elements, and any loyal citizen of Yemen can only but firmly reject anything that threatens the security of Yemen and Yemenis and the peace of neighboring countries, notably the Kingdom, which is the heart of the Islamic world and the sanctuary of Muslim hearts across the world,” Sheikh Al-Shayef said. “What affects the Kingdom's security affects Yemen's security, and all the people of Yemen are united in defense of the security of their country and that of our brothers in the Kingdom,” said Sheikh Al
