The Houthis may not be like the fanatical Taliban - but their rise in Yemen can also become a problem
The Houthis are notorious as it was born from the ashes of Hussein Badreddin Al-Houthi, a Zaydi Shi'a and also former parliamentarian of the Yemeni Cabinet. The former parliamentarian, who himself got educated in Iran and even met personally with Ali Khamenei (the current Iranian Supreme Leader), entered the Cabinet during 1990s with hope to raise concern about government's corruption, but instead got nothing except rebuffs from the officials. Unsurprisingly, Hussein Badreddin attempted to create a political party that would go on to be known after his death, Ansarallah, or the Houthis after the former's surname. He was killed in September 2004 when he clashed with government's troops, but his party persisted and even grew into a very powerful, notorious group. Of course, the group was not always at easy shape - the President of Yemen at the time of Hussein's death, ironically the Shi'a Ali Abdullah Saleh - tried to suppress the movement. However, the Houthis we...