Biden Adviser: Designating Houthis as ‘Terrorists’ Impedes Diplomacy

Date: 18 January 2021 - 21:16

News ID: ۸۶۶۴۸

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s appointee as National Security Advisor has said that the Trump administration’s plan to designate the Houthis Ansarullah movement in Yemen as a foreign terrorist group will impede diplomacy crucial to ending the war in the country.
Jake Sullivan said on Twitter, "Designating the whole organization will only inflict more suffering on Yemeni people and impede diplomacy critical to end the war.”
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that he plans to designate the Ansarullah, just a day before the Biden administration takes office. The designation will affect financial transactions with Yemen, including salaries for medical workers.
The UN, the EU and aid organizations have criticized the plan. They warn of "serious humanitarian and political repercussions.”
Hundreds of Yemenis gathered in front of the U.S. embassy in Sana’a on Monday to condemn the State Department’s designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, the speaker of Yemeni Shura Council has condemned the U.S. move, saying the current U.S. administration itself is the official sponsor of international terrorism.
Mohammed Hussein al-Aidarous made the remarks in a letter to a number of his counterparts in different countries, including Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, China, Japan, India, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Australia, Argentina and Brazil, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
He denounced the United States’ continuous support for the Saudi-led coalition that waged a war against Yemen six years ago, Yemen News Agency (SABA) reported.
Aidarous noted that the American support for the Saudi-led coalition has led to serious human rights violations and crimes against the Yemenis, as well as attempts to disintegrate Yemen, occupy its lands, plunder its wealth and control its decision.
In his letters, Aidarous said the U.S. move will have negative consequences on the political settlement of the war in Yemen and the progress of negotiations sponsored by the UN, adding that it will cast a shadow over the security and stability of the region.
He emphasized that the Shura Council rejects any foreign interference in Yemen’s affairs and stands by Ansarullah in the fight for the country’s sovereignty and independence.