Fares Mohammed Manaa (; born February 8, 1965)EUR-Lex REGULATIONS: COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 956/2011, 26 September 2011United Nations Security Council SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON SOMALIA AND ERITREA ISSUES LIST OF INDIVIDUALS: IDENTIFIED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 8 OF RESOLUTION 1844 (2008), 12 April 2010 is a Yemeni arms-dealer, businessman,Sa'ada tribal leaders protest "weapons dealer" imprisonment , February 20, 2010 rebel commander and politician.Houthis Control Sa'ada, Help Appoint Governor , 29 March 2011 He is said to be Yemen's most famous arms-dealer.Al-Ahram Saleh stalls as Yemen unravels , March 30, 2011 Manaa was born on February 8, 1965, in the northern city of Saada. He was an ally of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and member of his ruling GPC party and served as head of his presidential committee and as head of a local council tasked with mediating a peace-deal between the Yemeni government and Houthis during the Shia insurgency in Yemen. His brother was the governor of Saada Governorate at the time.Sana'a Cards to Pressurize Houthis to Enter New Dialogue Rounds, 10 April 2010
His name was put on a UN Security Council list of people accused of trafficking arms to Somali Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, which is considered as a terrorist organisation by the United StatesUnited States Department of State Foreign Terrorist Organizations, September 15, 2011 and is accused of with al-Qaeda.allafrica Who's Backing Al Shabaab? - Al Qaeda, Eritrea?, October 31, 2011 This led to his assets being frozen by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He was also accused of receiving millions in funds from the then Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, spying for Libya and supplying arms to the Houthis.Yemeni weapons dealer released, 21-06-2010 Manaa denied these charges claiming that arms had been stolen by Houthis from an arms deposit he owned. In October 2009Google News , May 11, 2010 was put at the top of a blacklist of Yemeni arms-dealers, after which he was put under surveillance.
In late January 2010, Manaa was arrested by Yemeni authorities leading to protests in Sa'dah by tribal chiefs and the resignation of his brother, Hassan Manaa, as governor.Sa'ada tribal leaders protest "weapons dealer" imprisonment , 20 February 2010 In May, a mini-bus driver was killed and a policeman and a civilian woman were injured as a group of Manaa's men attacked the car in which he was being transported to a penal court. This resulted in his trial being delayed by 25 days. He was eventually released on June 4, after which his relations with President Saleh soured.
On March 19, Houthis attacked the city of Sa'dah,Sa'ada: A Cry for Help starting a battle with pro-government al-Abdin tribesmen, led by Yemeni lawmaker Sheikh Othman Majali.Houthi Group Appoints Arms Dealer as Governor of Sa'ada province During the battle, rebels joined forces with Fares Manaa and after their victory, set up a local committee, composed of rebels, residents and defected military commanders,The Washington Post Yemen crisis intensifies with factory explosion, March 29, 2011 which appointed him as the new governor of Sa'dah on 26 March, after the pro-Saleh governor Taha Hajer fled to the capital Sanaa. He led the Houthis independent administration in Saada governorate until December 2014.United Nations Security Council Final report of the Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140 (2014) paragraph 75
References