Saudi troops 'captured' in Yemen

Nine Saudi soldiers have been seized by Houthi rebels in northern Yemen during fighting, the insurgents have said.A rebel spokesman based in Germany told BBC News that the incident took place inside Yemeni territory and urged Saudi Arabia to stay out of the conflict. The Saudi defence ministry confirmed nine soldiers were missing and may have been taken prisoner. The rebels, known as Houthis, accuse Saudi Arabia of supporting the Yemeni government in offensives against them. The spokesman, Yahya al-Houthi, stressed that the rebels' grievance was with the Yemeni government and not with Saudi Arabia. Border guardThe rebels first took up arms against the Yemeni government in 2004, saying they are trying to reverse the political, economic and religious marginalisation of the Zaydi Shia community.

"Nine Saudi soldiers have been seized by Houthi rebels in northern Yemen during fighting, the insurgents have said.A rebel spokesman based in Germany told BBC News that the incident took place inside Yemeni territory and urged Saudi Arabia to stay out of the conflict"The Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of wanting to re-establish Zaydi clerical rule, which ended in 1962, and of receiving support from Iran. The rebels had long held that Saudi Arabia allowed Yemeni armed forces to launch attacks from its territory. The Saudis were overtly drawn into the fighting in November 2009 when the rebels killed a Saudi border guard and took over Saudi villages. Saudi armed forces say they have since driven the rebels out of the kingdom, but frequently deny attacking targets within Yemeni territory. The Zaydi community are a minority in Yemen, but make up the majority in the north of the country.

The government launched a fresh offensive in August 2009, which has precipitated a new wave of intense fighting. Aid agencies say tens of thousands of people have been displaced