Clashes with Shi'ite rebels in Yemen kill 42 troops

SANAA, Feb 5 (Reuters) At least 42 Yemeni soldiers have been killed and 81 wounded in over a week of sporadic clashes with Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north of the country, a Yemeni official said today.

The official said the casualty toll had been cited in a report presented by Yemen's national security chief, Ali al-Ansi, to the country's consultative council.

Yemeni government forces have clashed with rebels officials say are led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, son of Sheikh Badr el-Deen al-Houthi and brother of anti-American cleric Hussein al-Houthi who was killed in 2004.

Yemen has accused the rebels of wanting to install Shi'ite religious rule in the country and preaching violence against the United States. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh warned the rebels after the latest bout of violence, which began late last month, to surrender their weapons or face a showdown.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, joined the US-led war on terrorism after the September. 11, 2001 attack on the United States. But Houthi's supporters are not linked to al Qaeda.

Sunni Muslims make up most of Yemen's 19 million population, while Shi'ite Muslims are estimated at about 15 percent.

REUTERS MS PM2036