YEMEN DOUBTS ERITREA'S SUPPORT OF AL-HOUTHI REBELS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000413 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E AND AF/RSA DEPT FOR NEA LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2019 TAGS: PTER MOPS PREL PGOV YM ER IR SUBJECT: YEMEN DOUBTS ERITREA'S SUPPORT OF AL-HOUTHI REBELS Classified By: CDA Melinda Tabler-Stone for reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Yemen is skeptical of reports that Eritrea is providing direct support to the Al-Houthi rebels, according to Mr. Abdella Al-Suqarti, deputy of the Yemen embassy in Asmara. While Mr. Al-Suqarti maintains that Iran is supplying arms to the rebels, he told poloff he is not convinced that Eritrea is providing either military, financial, or logistic support. "We have no evidence" he stated. At most, he continued, "Eritrea may be transiting some arms from Iran to the rebels." ¶2. (C) Al-Suqarti is suspicious, however, of other activities in the region. He stated openly that there were three Iranian ships in the Red Sea, and two smaller Iranian boats off the Eritrean port city of Assab. He noted the latter were hidden among old, unused Eritrean boats and served as a command center. With regard to the ongoing capture of Yemeni fisherman by the Eritrean government, he maintained this occurs whenever the fishing boats get too close to Eritrean covert military activities. Tabler-Stone