Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi

Sheikh Sayyid Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi (Arabic: حسين بدر الدين الحوثي; also spelled Hussein Badr Eddin al-Houthi) (1956–September 10, 2004) was a Zaidi religious leader and former Yemeni member of parliament. He was an instrumental figure in the Sa'dah conflict against the Yemeni government, which began in 2004. Al-Houthi was accused of trying to set himself up as an Imam, of setting up unlicensed religious centers, of creating an armed group called Shabab al-Muomineen or Believing Youth, and of staging violent anti-American protests.^[1]

Sheik al-Houthi, who was a one-time rising political aspirant in Yemen, had wide religious and tribal backing in northern Yemen's mountainous regions.. Al-Houthi's followers felt Yemen's government was too closely allied with the United States and lead protests against the United States and Israel at mosques.^[2]

In June 2004, the Yemeni government offered a bounty of $55,000.00 for al-Houthi's capture and launched an operation aimed at ending his rebellion. After months of battles between Yemeni security forces and the Believing Youth, the Yemeni Interior and Defense Ministries released a statement in which it declared that Sheikh al-Houthi had been killed with a number of his aides.^[3]

The Zaydi militants, known as the Houthis, take their name from al-Houthi, his brothers Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Yahia Badreddin al-Houthi are Abdul-Karim al-Houthi also leaders of the Houthi Rebels.

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