Houthi terror designation 'death sentence' for Yemenis, UN officials warn
United Nations officials took aim at the US plan to label Yemen's Houthis a foreign terrorist organization that relief groups say will imperil aid deliveries to the war-torn country.
Top UN officials urged the United States to reverse its plan to label Yemen’s Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, warning the designation “will be a death sentence to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of innocent people.”
“We fear that there will be inevitably a chilling effect on my efforts to bring the parties together,” UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Thursday. “The decision will contribute to the prospect of famine in Yemen and should be revoked based on humanitarian grounds at the earliest opportunity.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Sunday that he plans to notify Congress of his intention to designate the rebel group, a move he said would advance peace in the region and punish the Houthis for terrorist activity. The designation is set to take effect on Jan. 19 — a day before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Yemen is embroiled in a six-year-long civil war pitting the Houthis against a Saudi-led military coalition that intervened on behalf of the internationally recognized government in 2015. The outgoing administration of Donald Trump views the Houthis as a proxy of Iran, and the designation is seen as the latest attempt to complicate Biden’s pledge to revive diplomacy with Tehran.
