Yemen's State Security Court has started a trial in absentia for a political leader of the al-Houthi fighters, Yahya al-Houthi, who is currently living in Germany.

Yahya al-Houthi, who was a Yemeni MP, is accused of supporting and inspiring the armed rebellion against the government in the rugged northern province of Saada.

He is the brother of al-Houthi leader Abdul Malek al-Houthi.

The Yemeni parliament voted on Saturday to strip Yahya of his immunity. The decision came following a request of Justice Minister Ghazi Shaif al-Aghbari.

The Yemeni government launched Operation Scorched Earth on August 11 to uproot the Shia Houthi fighters, whom Sana'a accuses of seeking a return to the Zaydi imamate overthrown in a 1962 coup.

However, the northern combatants say they suffer religious discrimination by Sunni fundamentalists who hold sway because of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's cordial relations with staunchly Wahabi Saudi Arabia.

Saada and neighboring Amran province, the strongholds of the Shia Houthi fighters, are frequently pounded by fighter jets and helicopter gunships. The conflict zones in northern Yemen remain cut off from the rest of the country and are currently grappling with a pressing shortage of food and other basic supplies.

The United Nations puts the number of displaced people at around 150,000 civilians.

MP/HGL