Yemen: Regional maze

The military intervention launched by Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies in the conflict in Yemen raised the stakes, and increases the risk of a proxy war between the Wahhabi kingdom, guardian of Sunni Islam, and Iran , the main Shiite regional power.

Katherine Zimmerman, a researcher, American Enterprise Institute:

"The reason why Yemen is so important is that, historically, it was not a sectarian country or Iran's position in Yemen in recent weeks, in recent months has greatly strengthened and so it is much more a threat to the Sunni states in the region ", explains the analyst.

The Houthis are Zaidi, a branch of Shiite Islam dominant in northern Yemen. They are only 5% of the Yemeni population, given the 70% of Chaféistes, a branch of Sunni Islam. But unlike Iraq or Syria, the faithful pray together in mosques, and coexist peacefully for centuries.

The Houthis who seized the capital Sanaa in September and began their grip south and Aden, say conduct a revolution in the name of the entire population, without religious intent.

"We are here to provide security and stability and to protect the freedom and the interests of all", ensures that man.

Another player in the game, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, elected interim president in 2012 to lead the democratic transition. He had to flee the country besieged by Houthi militia. Supported by Riyadh, he called the army to join.

Everything suggests that Yemen is heading towards a civil war.

"The forces that supported President Hadi will align with the Saudis and try to enjoy it. The problem is that this will not be a civil war on two fronts. We will see a Houthi faction, a pro-Hadi faction but also al-Qaeda try to take advantage of the conflict, pull each out of the game in Yemen, "says Katherine Zimmerman.

Yemen is the territorial base of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the most active branch of the network founded by Osama bin Laden. But the organization Islamic State seems to enjoy the chaos to set up in his turn has claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks that killed nearly 140 dead in Sanaa in mosques frequented by Shiites.