Earlier, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced his intention to include the Ansar Allah movement on the State Department’s list of terrorist organisations
The policies pursued by the administration of incumbent United States President Donald Trump are of a terrorist nature. Mohammed Ali al-Husi, a member of the political council of Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement, expressed this opinion on Monday, commenting on US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s announcement of his intention to list the movement as a terrorist organization.
“The United States is the source of terrorism. The policies pursued by the Trump administration are terrorist in nature. The step taken by the Trump administration is indicative of a crisis of thinking”, – Al-Husi, quoted by Al Jazeera TV, said. He also added that Washington’s actions deserved condemnation, while the Houthis, in turn, “reserve the right to retaliate.”
For his part, Mohammed al-Bahiti, a member of the movement’s politburo, stressed in a comment to the TV channel that “the US has exhausted all options [for action] in Yemen and has failed.” He said Washington “seeks to deny the Yemeni people the opportunity to defend themselves against the aggression unleashed against them”.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced his intention to include the Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement on the State Department’s list of terrorist organisations. Such a decision, he said, would “provide additional tools to counter the terrorist activities” of Ansar Allah, which Washington believes are supported by Tehran, and would contribute to progress in overcoming instability in Yemen. The inclusion on the list of terrorist organisations means, among other things, the freezing of assets in the US and a ban on US citizens or companies from doing business with its figures.
In Yemen, the confrontation between government forces and the Houthis has been ongoing since August 2014. It reached its most active phase when the Saudi-led coalition invaded the country in March 2015. The conflict, which has lasted for more than five years, has created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. According to the UN, more than 24 million Yemenis – about 80 per cent of the population – are in need of humanitarian assistance, while the number of internally displaced persons exceeds 3 million.