[LINK] "Yemen's Jews stay put in Sanaa"

[rfmcdonald]

hne remaining Yemenite Jews in Yemen, AFP reports, aren't doing very well, as evidenced by their relocatino to the capital Sanaa.

Forced to flee fighting between Shiite rebels and the army in the north, Yemen's Jews have found a new home in Sanaa, where they benefit from the special protection of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"May God keep him alive," repeats Rabbi Yahya Yussef Moussa, the leader of the Jewish community of Al-Salem, every time he refers to the Yemeni president during an interview with AFP.

Al-Salem is close to Saada in northern Yemen, which is the stronghold of the Shiite Zaidi rebels, who are also known as Huthis.

Fighting between the Huthis and the army since 2004 has seen the exodus from the area of an estimated 150,000 people, including the entire Jewish community of Al-Salem.

Some press reports suggest that the United States is preparing to evacuate these Jews if the situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate.