Fifty organizations have written a letter to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden urging him to reject the Trump administration’s designation of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement as “terrorists,” arguing that the move is a “recipe for more conflict” in the war-torn country.
“Our coalition joins a chorus of growing opposition to the designation, including a bipartisan group of members of Congress, several humanitarian organizations working on the ground in Yemen, and former career diplomats who have served both Republican and Democratic presidents,” the letter reads after blaming both sides of the conflict for the situation in the impoverished country under U.S.-backed aggression by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Days before President Donald Trump’s term ends, Hawkish Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday unveiled the measure against the Ansarullah movement.
“These designations are not a trigger for peace, but a recipe for more conflict and famine, while needlessly further undermining U.S. diplomatic credibility,” the letter to the new president reads. “No evidence supports the need for such designations, a fact pointed out in a letter last month from former U.S. diplomats expressing concern that it will ‘complicate efforts to bring the conflict to an end and begin the long process of stabilizing and rebuilding Yemen.'”
Saudi Arabia has been waging a war against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in Yemen since March 2015.
“America is the source of terrorism,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, said Monday. “The Trump administration’s policies and actions are terrorist. We reserve the right to respond to any designation issued by the Trump administration or other governments.”
U.S. lawmakers from both parties have rejected the State Department’s decision to label the Houthis a terrorist organization.
by Jeremy Abbott – American Correspondent – WPN