Coached Confession?

There is much going on in Yemen this morning, but briefly, the two main stories are al-‘Awfi’s confession and the fighting in Ja’ar.

I first heard about al-‘Awfi’s confession last night when a friend e-mailed me an Arabic story on what was being broadcast on Saudi television last night. After reading it, I have to say, I was not all that impressed. The story, which I can’t find on the internet (sorry, no link, as it is only a text in my e-mail) repeats a number of errors from al-Hayat’s reporting in February. Also, and more importantly, al-‘Awfi manages to conveniently link all of Saudi Arabia’s enemies together. To me, this is all a little too convenient. The timing of the confession – when Prince Nayf is named a successor to the throne – as well as the fact that it took so long to get this on the air following his arrest/surrender in February, also suggests that he was well- what is term? – coached.

For his part, ‘Abd al-Malik al-Huthi is denying the claims. No surprise there. This comes only a day after new fighting broke out in Sa’dah.