* Video shows rebel leader with no apparent wounds
* Central government had said he was seriously wounded
(Adds details, background)
DUBAI, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Yemen's Shi'ite rebels said on Friday their leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, had not been seriously wounded, and posted a video on their website showing him in good health.
On Tuesday a Yemeni official said Houthi had been seriously wounded about a month ago and had entrusted a relative with leading the northern rebellion in his stead.
In a statement accompanying the video clip, the rebels said they had issued it "at the insistence of the majority of media outlets that have contacted us about the necessity to show Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in a video that confirms what we have said time and again: That he is safe and no harm has come to him."
A government official said on Jan. 19 Houthi had sustained serious wounds and his leg had had to be amputated.
The video shows Houthi sitting on a chair and speaking into a microphone, with both legs intact and no visible wounds.
Claims he had been wounded were baseless, he said, adding the central government was merely trying to justify what he said was the killing of civilians.
Reuters could not immediately verify the date of the recording, but his comments came in answer to a question about government claims he had been wounded.
Shi'ite rebels from the Zaidi sect have been fighting government troops in Yemen's mountainous north on and off since 2004, complaining of marginalisation.
The conflict intensified last summer and again in November when it drew in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter. When rebels seized some Saudi territory, Riyadh unleashed a major military operation against them that is still under way.
Yemen, where about 42 percent of the country's 23 million people live on less than $2 a day, is also in the middle of a major crackdown on al Qaeda in several provinces at the same time as trying to contain separatist sentiment in the south.
Yemen's growing instability has raised fears in the region and abroad that al Qaeda may exploit the chaos to step up operations in Yemen and use it as a base for attacks elsewhere.
The militant group's Yemen-based wing claimed responsibility for a bomb attempt on an aircraft heading to the United States on Dec. 25.
About 8,900 families have been made into refugees by the fighting in the province of Saada, the rebel stronghold, a government official was quoted as saying by the state news agency Saba on Thursday. The United Nations says the conflict has displaced about 175,000 people in northern Yemen, which is off-limits to journalists and even some international agencies.
Death tolls and casualty numbers are therefore difficult to verify independently.
However, a Saudi military official was quoted in a newspaper on Thursday as saying 113 Saudi soldiers had died in fighting against the Houthis.
After a meeting on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi agreed to step up work to support counterterrorism efforts in Yemen. (Reporting by Raissa Kasolowsky; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Saudyjskie myśliwce Tornado są zaangażowane w bombardowanie pozycji jemeńskich rebeliantów
'''Liczba zabitych saudyjskich żołnierzy walczących od listopada 2009 na granicy saudyjsko-jemeńskiej z szyickimi rebeliantami wzrosła do 133.'''

Liczba zabitych poszła w górę, kiedy po wyparci rebeliantów Houthis z rejonów wokół góry Duchan, znaleziono ciała 20 saudyjskich wojskowych. Minister obrony Arabii Saudyjskiej książę Chaled ibn Sultan, podał też, że sześciu żołnierzy uważanych jest za zaginionych.

4 listopada armia Arabii Saudyjskiej rozpoczęła atak na pozycje rebeliantów na swoim terytorium przy granicy z Jemenem. Bezpośrednią przyczyną przystąpienia wojsk saudyjskich do walk z rebeliantami, było zastrzelenie strażnika granicznego przez bojowników. Rebelianci, którzy zajęli przygraniczny region Dżabal al-Duchan rozpoczęli ataki na saudyjskie patrole. 

Bojownicy przenikali wcześniej na tereny Arabii Saudyjskiej, gdyż armia Jemenu wypychała ich z swojego terytorium. 5 listopada saudyjskie lotnictwo i artyleria rozpoczęła bombardowanie pozycji rebeliantów Houthis, co doprowadziło do ich wyparcia. W akcji brały udział myśliwce F-15 oraz Panavia Tornado.

Do największego starcia armii saudyjskiej na terytorium Jemenu doszło 22 grudnia, kiedy rebelianci odparli atak sił saudyjskich. W bitwie, która rozegrała się pod miejscowością Jabiriya na granicy saudyjsko-jemeńskiej zginęło 64 saudyjskich wojskowych.

19 stycznia w walce lider szyickich rebeliantów Abdul-Malik al-Houthi w walce odniósł poważne obrażenia, jednak w piątek poinformowany, że al-Houthi jest tylko lekko ranny i jego życiu nie zagraża niebezpieczeństwo.

Operacja Scorched Earth rozpoczęta 11 sierpnia 2009, jest częścią konfliktu Jemenu z szyickimi rebeliantami, który tli się od 2004 roku. Od sierpnia zginęło 57 jemeńskich wojskowych i ponad 650 rebeliantów.