Al-Mahwit tourism and its gold spark a hidden conflict between Muhammad Al-Houthi and Al-Mashat
English - Wednesday 30 August 2023 الساعة 04:08 pm
NewsYemen, report/Walid Muhammad:
The works of uses and laying on the lands of the Sardad tourist valley, and the work of excavations for gold, minerals and antiquities in the "Qutb" mountain, in the Mahwit governorate, west of Sana'a, sparked an open conflict between the leaders of the terrorist Houthi militia - Iran's arm in Yemen - that reached the point of attempts at physical liquidation.
The conflict over the region in public is between the leader Fares Al-Habari, appointed by the militias as governor of Raymah, and the leader Hanin Qatina, appointed as governor of Al-Mahwit, and it began against the backdrop of the former’s seizure of large tourist areas in Wadi Sardad and investing them for his benefit, and making huge sums of money from them as he imposes sums of money on visitors to the region. It ranges between 10 to 15 thousand riyals per family.
But internally, the conflict is between the head of the so-called militia political council, Mahdi al-Mashat, who supports Qatina and the council member and head of the so-called revolutionary committees, Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, who supports al-Habari, and its intensity escalated a few days after al-Mashat’s visit to al-Mahwit at the beginning of this August.
Local sources told (Newsyemen) that Qattina, who is considered one of the most prominent sheikhs of Al-Mahwit, and at the behest of Al-Mashat, warned Al-Habbari about the developments he is making in the tourist area and its springs, and the matter almost turned into confrontations after Al-Mahweet was ignored, but the leaders of the first ranks of the militias intervened and formed A committee to review the merits of this dispute.
The sources added that Al-Habbari, with the support of Mohammed Al-Houthi, who reinforced him with dozens of gunmen, refused to stop the developments or respond to the committee, which caused the disputes to escalate, especially after Al-Habbari insisted on developing construction works, at the site of Uyun Sardoud in the Qufa area of Al-Rajm District, in an attempt to impose A fait accompli as soon as possible, challenging Qatina, who gathered the Mahwit tribes to announce their position on what was happening and issue a tribal statement rejecting Al-Habbari movements.
The sources confirmed that the leaders that Qattina used to convey his grievance to the rebel leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, were subjected to mysterious traffic accidents during which they miraculously escaped death.
In this regard, an official report of the arrival of a delegate from the General Authority for Land, Survey and Urban Planning, on August 15, to the site of Oyoun Sardad, confirmed the existence of an attack on state lands by the Houbara by erecting a quarry.
The report called on the Houthi leader Al-Habbari to determine the location of his ownership of the agricultural land he claims and to submit documents for examination and to ensure their authenticity and conformity to nature, proposing to oblige the beneficiary of the crusher - i.e. Al-Habbari - to rent from the authority’s branch in the governorate, and pay the state the equivalent of what he had previously extracted from the beginning of the construction of the crusher.
Al-Habbari’s ambitions did not stop at expanding tourist sites, but according to informed sources, they extended to prospecting for gold and antiquities in Mount Qutb in the same district.
The sources told (NewsYemen), that during the past two weeks, Al-Habbari sent by force of arms bulldozers and equipment to dig and build a road to Mount Al-Qutb in Al-Rajm District, under the pretext that the mountain contains marble, while his goal is to excavate gold and search for antiquities in archaeological sites in the same mountain. As all the people know about this.
The sources reported that Al-Habbari brought in experts specialized in prospecting for gold, minerals, and antiquities, and was cutting up samples from the famous mountain, and transporting them to Sanaa for the purpose of examination, amid severe secrecy, oppression, and silencing of dissatisfied residents, as a result of random gold prospecting operations and the systematic destruction of historical identity in sabotaging archaeological sites. .
The sources expected the intensity of the conflict between Al-Habari and Qatina to escalate to include the leaders of the first ranks of the Houthi militia, especially if it is confirmed that there are antiquities and gold in the mountain where excavations are currently taking place.
