A high-pitched Emirati-Saudi speech... Strong messages to the "Houthi" from the Security Council

English - Thursday 19 January 2023 الساعة 10:24 am
Aden, NewsYemen:

The statements of the delegates of several Arab and Western countries to the United Nations, during the recent meeting of the UN Security Council, carried strong political and military messages to the Houthi militia - the Iranian arm in Yemen.

What was remarkable was the high tone towards the Houthis and their practices, in the statement of the United Arab Emirates, by the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Muhammad Abu Shihab.  It called on the international community to intervene to push the Houthi militia to stop its subversive activities and destructive agenda, which stands as an obstacle to achieving peace in Yemen.

The UAE called on the UN Security Council to intensify its work to confront the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the Houthis, and to pressure it to respond to international and regional initiatives.

The UAE said, in the words of its deputy permanent representative, Muhammad Abu Shihab, "Any militia attack on neighboring countries will be met with a firm response by the Legitimacy Support Coalition."

She added that despite the end of the armistice and the disruption of the political track due to the behavior of the Houthi militia and their procrastination, the international community and all Yemeni factions are determined to end the war, which has prolonged the suffering of the Yemeni people.

Abu Shihab said, "The record of the terrorist Houthi militia's violations against the Yemeni people contains a long series of repression, intimidation, killing, and enforced disappearance, in addition to recruiting children and attempting to inculcate extremist ideas, violence, and abuse against women."

He added, "With Houthi's repeated rejection of proposals to restore the armistice, the Security Council must take a tougher stance to discourage the militias from their military escalation, which we strongly condemn, and force them to deal seriously with regional and UN proposals to end the war."

And he added, "This includes the Council's adoption of measures to ensure the implementation of the arms embargo on the Houthi terrorist militia."

He said, "We have recently witnessed a number of seizures of weapons, ammunition and explosive materials that were on their way to the Houthis, including materials used in the manufacture of missiles and drones to launch cross-border attacks."

The Emirati diplomat called on the UN Security Council to take stricter measures to stop the economic war waged by the Houthi militia against Yemeni economic interests, and to lift all restrictions and obstacles targeting humanitarian workers, especially women.

A Saudi demand to classify the Houthis as terrorists

 Likewise, the Saudi delegate to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah Al-Wasel - in his speech during the Security Council session - called on the international community to classify the Houthi militia as a terrorist group, and stressed its lack of seriousness in seeking peace.

Al-Wasel condemned the Houthi militia's attacks on Yemeni oil and gas facilities in Hadramout and Shabwa, and vowed a strong and firm response to any threats it might pose or attacks by the terrorist militia on the Gulf states or their interests.

He stated that the Security Council failed to take a position on the atrocities committed by the Houthi militia against the Yemenis, stressing that the classification of the Houthis as a terrorist organization has become an urgent and necessary matter.

While the Saudi delegate affirmed Riyadh's support for the efforts of the United Nations to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict in Yemen, he indicated at least twice that the Kingdom had provided a peaceful solution in accordance with the Gulf initiative, Security Council resolutions, and regional initiatives.

 No Houthi desire for peace

Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi, Yemen's representative to the United Nations, affirmed in a statement, before the Security Council, that "the government's many experiences with the Houthi militia, the latest of which is the truce efforts, prove to the world and with conclusive evidence that Iran's arm has no desire for peace."

While he expressed the Yemeni government's appreciation for the council's unified voice in condemning the Houthi terrorist attack on October 21,  He stressed that "data is no longer enough, and a greater commitment to peace in Yemen must be shown by using all tools of pressure on the terrorist Houthi militia and the Iranian regime that supports it."

Ambassador Al-Saadi stressed that all of this requires the UN Security Council and the United Nations to find a new approach towards the peace process in Yemen, in light of the procrastination, threat and evasion method pursued by the terrorist Houthi militia.

He also stressed that the international approach taken during the last period brought the Yemenis nothing but more tightening of the Houthis' grip on the necks of Yemenis and prolonging the conflict.  It enabled the militias to undermine all efforts aimed at achieving peace, and to deepen the humanitarian, economic and social crisis.

US support for Yemeni-Yemeni talks

 In turn, the United States stressed that the Houthis should sit down with the Yemeni government and agree with it only about their claims to pay public sector salaries and harness Yemen's resources for the benefit of the people.

"Only the Yemeni-Yemeni talks can reach a political agreement that includes addressing the humanitarian crisis and how to distribute Yemen's resources, and that agreement be under the auspices of the United Nations," said the US Deputy Representative to the United Nations, Richard Mills, during the Security Council session.

On the other hand, Britain, which holds the Yemeni file in the Security Council, said that "negotiations led by Yemenis under the auspices of the United Nations are the only way to address the humanitarian situation in Yemen."