Mick Hartley

As the Saudi Muttawa or religious police – the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice - have been such a striking success, the Yemenis have decided to set up their own version:

The first signs appeared a few months ago in the Red Sea port of Hodeida, where young men and women began to be accosted by bearded vigilantes demanding proof that couples were related. A hotel disco and bar were closed down and several Arab women dancers deported. Daoud al-Jeni, a self-styled "virtue activist', described his mission as being to curb "obscenity and prostitution". Anti-vice teams, some armed with sticks, have also been operating in Aden, the former British colony in the south.

In mid-July the Authority for Promoting Virtue and Combating Vice — exactly the same name as used in Saudi Arabia for 80 years — was launched in Sana'a and quickly moved to pressure the authorities to raid and close down two Chinese restaurants that were allegedly being used for "immoral" purposes, including selling alcohol.

"This is a step backward for human rights in Yemen," warned Hurriya Mashour, the deputy head of the state-backed Womens National Committee.

Behind the "virtue committee", which supported by 2,000 clerics and tribal leaders, is Sheikh Abdel-Majid al-Zindani, a powerful Salafi figure who once taught Osama bin Laden and is accused by the US and UN of financing terrorism. Zindani is a charismatic preacher who claims to have found a cure for Aids and specialises in Quranic explanations for modern scientific discoveries. His Al-Iman university in Sana'a is seen as a hotbed of religious extremism.

Zindani and like-minded ulema, or scholars, have long demanded government action against "moral corruption", which in their book includes mixed dancing, alcohol, racy TV soap operas, fashion shows and even mannequins in shop windows. They have also opposed calls for a legally enforceable minimum age for marriage in a country where girls as young as 12, especially in villages, are frequently married off to older men.

The same group also condemned a proposal by President Ali Abdullah Salih for a 15% quota for women in parliament.