UN Spokesman Has No Comment On Reports Of Guterres Persuading US Not To Designate Houthis

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday he had no comment regarding media reports that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been trying to persuade the United States not to designate the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen as a terrorist organization

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2020) UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday he had no comment regarding media reports that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been trying to persuade the United States not to designate the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen as a terrorist organization.

US President Donald Trump has been preparing to designate the Houthi movement a terrorist organization before leaving his office in January, Foreign Policy reported.

"You can quote me as saying I have no comment on that story," Dujarric told reporters when asked to confirm whether the report is accurate.

According to the report, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths has been asking the United States to reconsider its plan concerning the Houthis, fearing that the move could reverse the progress achieved toward securing peace and disrupt international humanitarian efforts.

In October, Guterres asked US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft to revise plans with respect to designating the Houthi movement.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces, led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi movement since 2014. In December 2018, the warring parties signed a UN-backed agreement in Sweden. The sides agreed to a ceasefire in Al Hudaydah, an exchange of prisoners and establishment of humanitarian corridors in the area.