Published 20:08 IST, February 14th 2021
Saudi Arabia will treat Houthi militia as terrorist organisation: UN representative
Saudi Arabia will continue to treat Houthis as a terrorist organisation despite a US decision to lift the designation on the Iran based Yemeni group.
Saudi Arabia will continue to treat Houthis as a terrorist organisation despite a US decision to lift the designation on the group, according to the kingdom's permanent representative to the United Nations. On February 12, the Joe Biden administration rescinded terrorist group designation from the Yemeni group, fearing it would block global aid to the country. However, Saudi Arabia, which has been engaged in a battle against them since 2014 stated that it would continue to forward with the designation.
Speaking to state-owned Asharq News, top diplomat Abdullah Al-Muallami, said that despite US’s decision, Saudi Arabia would “still deal with the Houthi militia as a terrorist organisation and address its threats with military action.” While the Kingdom’s government has yet not issued an official response, commentators have denounced the move stressing that it would embolden Iran backed group to conduct increased attacks.
US remains clear-eyed
Yemen has been engulfed in chaos since a civil war began in late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the control of several northern provinces and even forces the globally-recognised government headed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. Later in 2015, the Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict to back Hadi’s government. According to AP, the conflict has been disastrous for Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, killing more than 112,000 people, creating a humanitarian disaster, and wrecking infrastructure from roads and hospitals to water and electricity networks.
While announcing the decision, Blinken said the United States “remains clear-eyed” about the Houthis’ “malign actions and aggressions including taking control of large areas of Yemen by force, attacking US partners in the Gulf, kidnapping and torturing citizens of the United States and many of our allies, diverting humanitarian aid, brutally repressing Yemenis in areas they control, and the deadly attack on December 30, 2020 in Aden against the cabinet of the legitimate government of Yemen.”
Updated 20:08 IST, February 14th 2021