Across Asia: Yemen

Rebel leader's trial starts

Yemen began the trial in absentia yesterday of a leader of Shi'ite rebels in the north of the Arabian Peninsula country, accusing him of spying for a foreign country.

The trial of Yahya al-Houthi, who is based in Germany, comes after President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed this month to crush the revolt by Zaidi Shi'ite Muslims in Saada and Amran provinces. Yahya, a parliamentarian who left for Germany three years ago, is the brother of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the rebels' military leader on the ground in Yemen.