Accusations Against Yemen's Zaydis

Yemen has decided to get in on the the game of blaming Iran for Shi'ite activism:

"Yemen has also sought to strengthen regional and international opinion against the Shabab by stoking fears of Iranian involvement in the conflict. The Shabab, which are known in the official press as the al-Houthi rebels—an insulting term that is derived from the name of the group's first leader, Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi, who was killed in September 2004—are comprised of Zaydi Muslims, a Shiite sect that has traditionally been closer to Sunni Islam than it has to the Twelver Shiism that is practiced in Iran.

"Yemen has made similar allegations in the past, but given the current mood of anti-Shiite feelings among the country's neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), it has stressed its claims much more during the past few weeks than it has in previous years. Part of this is a desire by Yemen to link its internal problems to regional issues in the hopes of securing financial aid."

(Crossposted to American Footprints)