A minister of the UN-recognised government of Yemen has called on US Congress to designate the Ansar Allah movement, known as the Houthis, as a “terrorist organisation”.
Moammar Al-Eryani, who acts as minister of information under the Riyadh-based government of exiled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, tweeted yesterday: “We call on US House to designate Houthis militia as a terrorist organisation as one of Iran’s dangerous arms in region, for killing, abduction & displacement for mill.of Yemenis, target neighboring countries, planting marine mines, &launch booby-trapped boats to threaten int’l shipping”.
The statement accompanied footage of Republican Congressman Adam D. Kinzinger’s remarks made during a hearing for US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House in which he blamed the “Iranian regime” for overthrowing “the legitimate government of Yemen”, accusing the Islamic Republic of destabilising the region.
“We affirm on pivotal role of White House admin. in curbing Iran expansion ambitions in Middle East, curb its sectarian militias and reduce its terrorist threats, &importance of continued political and economic pressure on Tehran regime to protect security and stability of region and world,” Eyrani added.
Faced with popular protests during the so-called Arab Spring, the Yemen Revolution in 2011 led to the late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepping down after three decades in power, succeeded by his Vice President Hadi in 2012 on an interim basis. However, Saleh returned before this transition took place and with loyalist forces in the army, formed an alliance with one-time foes, the Houthis. He would be killed at the hands of the Houthis in 2017 over claims he sought to switch sides again with the Saudis and betray the Houthis.
In 2014, the Houthis rejected a controversial six-region federation proposal by the interim-government on the basis that it would not distribute wealth evenly. In particular, it would have marginalised the Houthi heartlands in the northern province of Saada, which lacks both natural resources and access to the sea. “We have rejected it because it divides Yemen into poor and wealthy,” official Houthi spokesperson Mohammad Al-Bukhayti said at the time.
Read the full article on MEMO, March 4, 2020
