Biden Administration To Propose Immediate Review Of Yemen's Houthi Designation - Blinken

Sumaira FH Published January 20, 2021 | 02:40 AM

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) The incoming US administration will propose to reevaluate the recent designation of Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist organization, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said during his Senate conformation hearing.

"I think we would propose to review that immediately to make sure that what we are doing is not impeding the provision of humanitarian assistance even under these difficult circumstances," Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

Blinken noted his deep concern is the designation may not bring the Houthis back to negotiation table while making it even more difficult than it already is to provide much needed humanitarian aid to the country.

However, Blinken emphasized that the United States has to view the Houthi movement with clear eyes.

"They overthrew the government in Yemen, they engaged in a path of aggression through the country, they directed aggression toward Saudi Arabia, they've committed atrocities and human right abuses.

And that is a fact," Blinken said. "What's also a fact is that though the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen pushed back against the Houthi aggression, it has contributed to what is by most accounts the worst humanitarian situation that we face anywhere in the world."

Blinken explained that one aspect of that situation is that 80 percent of Yemen's population lives in areas controlled by the Houthis.

Last week, the US State Department added the Houthi movement to its list of terrorist organizations. The leader of the movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, his brother and military commander Abd al-Khaliq al-Houthi and another Ansar Allah commander Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim were listed as global terrorists.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdessalam said earlier on Tuesday that the inclusion of the Houthi movement in the US list of terrorist organizations will not affect its political position and will not lead to concessions.