The UN believes that the decision of the United States to classify as "terrorists" the Houthi rebels in Yemen "is likely to have serious humanitarian and political repercussions", affirmed, Monday (January 11th), its spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric. .

"We are concerned that the designation will have a negative impact [on] imports of food and other essentials just as more Yemenis are starving," he said.

In his statement to the rare virulence vis-à-vis the United States, Stéphane Dujarric also affirmed the fear of the UN of a "detrimental effect on the efforts to resume the political process in Yemen and to polarize even more the positions of the parties to the conflict ".

"Yemen recovers almost all of its food through commercial imports," the spokesperson insisted.

"The humanitarian operation - the largest in the world - can neither replace the private sector nor offset the significant drops in commercial imports of food and other essential goods," he said.

"The growing risk of famine in Yemen underscores the imperative for the United States to swiftly grant the licenses and exemptions necessary to ensure that humanitarian aid can continue to reach all those in need across the country. country without interruption ", argued Stéphane Dujarric.

Riyadh welcomes Washington's decision

On Sunday, ten days before the end of Donald Trump's term, US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo announced that the Houthis would be on the list of "terrorist" groups, along with three of their leaders, including their leader. , Abdel Malek al-Houthi.

For its part, Saudi Arabia welcomed Monday the placement on the American blacklist of the "terrorist" groups of the Houthi rebels, which the kingdom has been fighting in Yemen since 2015, at the head of a military coalition in support of the government. recognized by the international community.

"The Foreign Office welcomes the decision of the US administration to designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization," the official Saudi agency SPA said, adding that this was "in line with the calls of the legitimate Yemeni government to put an end to the activities of this militia supported by Iran ".

Great ally of Washington in the Gulf, the Wahhabi monarchy has already classified the Houthis as a "terrorist" group in 2014.

With AFP

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