UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2021) The United Nations is concerned that the US decision to designate Yemen's Houthi opposition movement as terrorists will have detrimental consequences on the political process in that country, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Monday.
"We are also concerned that the designation may have a detrimental impact on efforts to resume the political process in Yemen, as well as to polarize even more the positions of the parties to the conflict," Dujarric said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced earlier that the State Department intends to notify Congress of its plans to designate the Houthi movement as a terrorist organization and brand three of its leaders - Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim - as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
Dujarric also said that the decision will likely have repercussions on the largest in the world humanitarian operation, risking to slide Yemen into famine.
"The growing risk of famine in Yemen underlines the imperative for the US to swiftly grant the necessary licenses and exemptions to ensure that principled humanitarian assistance can continue to reach all people... without disruption," the spokesman said.
Earlier in the day, a senior member of Yemen's Houthi-run Supreme Political Council, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, said, commenting on the US plans, that the rebels have the right to respond to such action.
A civil war between the Yemeni government forces, led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi movement has been ongoing since 2014. The Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict on the side of the government in 2015, after the rebels made significant gains during the early days of clashes. The movement controls the capital of Sanaa and large areas in northern and western Yemen.
