A Shiite militia that has taken control in Yemen yesterday said that closures of Western diplomatic missions were “unjustified” and promised to return US embassy vehicles that it had seized.
The US, Britain and France cited security fears as they announced the shutting of their embassies on Wednesday, days after the militia ousted parliament in its latest move to consolidate power.
However, Hussein al-Ezzi, described as the Houthi militia’s head of foreign relations, said the closures were designed to put “pressure” on the Yemeni people.
Photo: Reuters
“The decisions of some Western countries to close their embassies in Sana’a are absolutely unjustified,” he was quoted as saying by the official Saba news agency, which is under Houthi control.
Despite their origins as a Shiite rebel group based in Yemen’s north, the Houthis now claim to represent a broad opposition movement that aims to fight corruption.
Ezzi said the countries that closed their embassies “will quickly realize that it is in their interests to deal positively with the will of the Yemeni people, which they must respect.”
Departing US embassy workers destroyed documents and weapons and abandoned vehicles at the airport as they made a hasty exit from Yemen.
The militia seized three diplomatic cars and more than 25 vehicles used by US Marines in charge of security at the mission.
Ezzi confirmed that vehicles had been seized, without saying exactly how many, and insisted that they were taken for safekeeping.
“It was to safeguard and protect [the vehicles] because certain drivers and local [embassy] staff wanted to appropriate them,” he said. “Airport authorities in Sana’a are ready to hand over the vehicles to a trustworthy third party, like the United Nations office.”
The Houthis seized control of Sana’a in September last year and have since been tightening their grip on the capital and expanding their territory.
They dissolved parliament and declared a “presidential council” last week after Western-backed then-president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi tendered his resignation, saying he could no longer govern.
The UN has called for Hadi to be restored to power and brokered talks this week aimed at bringing the country out of crisis.
UN envoy Jamal Benomar was to brief the Security Council later yesterday.
The crisis has raised fears of a collapse of authority in Yemen, a key US ally that has allowed Washington to carry out a long-term drone war against the country’s powerful al-Qaeda branch.
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