Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Alwaght - Since the beginning of the revolutionary developments in Yemen, Ansarullah movement has been at the focus of national and international attention which is largely due to its performance in the periods before and after the Saudi-led airstrikes. With its leadership and revolutionary measures, this movement has established significant achievements in different areas which are briefly explored in the following lines:

1. Breaking up the grand coalition of the Salafis with Wahhabis and Takfiris, chasing the heads of al-Ahmar and Ali Mohsen Ahmar's tribes out of the country (undermining the military wing of the Reform Party and the Salafis), and shutting down the Salafi school of Dar-al-Hadith in western Sa'ada which trained more than 12,000 foreign students from various countries round the world.

2. Presenting Ansarullah as a compassionate force for the Yemeni society, which defends public rights and is against injustice and corruption; advocating true democracy and clarifying the negative views about Ansarullah which were created by unenviable past records of Zaydi Imams, and countering the negative propaganda of the Reform Party and the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh against Ansarullah.   

3. Presenting Ansarullah as a powerful political movement through attending the meetings of the national dialogue and its committees and presenting new ideas in their meetings.

4. Wining the respect and trust of the public, as Ansarullah brought about peace and public security, and ended the tribal conflicts in areas under its influence and supported development projects, set up medical centers and built brotherhood among people.  

5. Provoking popular resentment against the US, discrediting making relation with the US, and building up the Yemenis' confidence in their religion.

6. Establishing a college for training and educating administrative managers by Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi with the aim of training young work force to address the lack of experienced and effective staff and to widely facilitate cultural development in towns of Sa'ada and Omran which offered the highest number of martyrs at the beginning of the revolution while more than 70 % of their population are illiterate.  

7. Uncovering the power and influence of Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the leader of Ansarullah movement in Yemeni society and his ability to mobilize the masses. (As the first important result of the massive popular protests in the country Ansarullah transformed from a military movement to a political movement with peaceful demands).  The Yemeni government always introduced Ansarullah as a limited movement comprised of insurgents and rebels.

8. Strengthening the political position of Ansarullah. Ansarullah used to rely on its military power, and its military policy overshadowed its other activities. Its enemies always introduced it as an armed extremist militant group. However, in recent events, the political policy of Ansarullah overshadowed its armed policy, and Ansarullah peacefully entered the capital, and through political bargaining put forward the popular demands. As a result, in the future, Ansarullah will be known as a great political movement which gives priority to popular demands rather than its own interests.

9. Being known as an enormous popular and national power. After recent events, Ansarullah movement succeeded to overshadow its Houthi and Zaidi circles and has prioritized civil demands over religious and ethnic ones.

10. Becoming a strong pole of power in political equations of Yemen as the public opinion collaborated with Ansarullah to fulfill the popular national demands.

11. Undermining the Salafi Reform Party, the biggest enemy of the Ansarullah.

12. Widening the gap between the leaders of General People's Congress (Mansour Hadi and Ali Abdullah Saleh) as Ansarullah Movement has got more powerful.

13. Proving its military capabilities. Thanks to its presence in the army, Ansarullah had taken possession of a large amount of weapons. Further, Ansarullah is not a newly founded organization which is unfamiliar with battlefield and its effective factors. Before Saudi-led airstrikes, the Ansarullah movement, backed by Yemeni army, wrested control over some areas. Taking the political and economic situation into account, and knowing that government officials or army commanders were likely to collaborate with Saudi affiliates, Ansarullah took out a great deal of light and heavy weapons from military centers and transferred them into secure places; in addition, in its struggles with the opposition and terrorist groups, Ansarullah seized many ammunition dumps. However, a major part of the strong military of Yemen helps Ansarullah movement to achieve its objectives. It should be noted that Yemen, situated in a special geopolitical position, has long been a gateway to arms trafficking from Africa to Asia and vice versa and it has always been very easy to get a weapon in this country.  

14. presenting itself as a national champion, a savior who honestly makes attempts to alleviate poverty and promote development, welfare and socio-political justice. Due to the insistence of Ansarullah on fulfilling the legitimate demands of the people, and not claiming any share of the senior government posts, the Yemenis will regard Ansarullah as a beneficent movement. Certainly, these humanitarian and justice-seeking measures of Ansarullah have their roots in the Shiite Islamic thought and culture, and will be effective in developing the Shiite culture and clearing up the misunderstandings and enmity among the Islamic sects of the region. Besides, the Houthis coming into power in Yemen's political scene could inspire Saudi provinces bordering with Yemen that is a serious security challenge for Saudis. Political dynamics of the Ansarullah movement and their resistance-centered approach was in line with fulfilling the popular demands and the realization of democracy in the Yemeni society, and it is far different from the radical approaches of extremist groups such as the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda. As a result, even Americans will not have a pretext to call Ansarullah Resistance Movement a terrorist organization.