Washington Considers Designating Houthis A Terrorist Organization Again
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: February 11, 2022 10:00:AM UTC
Last Modified: February 11, 2022 10:00:AM UTC
WASHINGTON - The Biden administration is considering designating the Houthis a terrorist organization... again. The administration held an inter-agency meeting Friday to discuss whether or not to designate the organization as a terrorist organization once again according to two sources who reportedly spoke to Axios.
The State Department suggested however that only select Houthi leaders be hit with sanctions as opposed to designating the entire Houthi organization as a whole a terrorist organization.
State Department spokesman Ned Price stated that the President has not yet made a decision whether or not to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization, but said that the leaders must be held accountable for their attacks.
"And we’re not going to relent in using all appropriate tools, including sanctions and designations of Houthi leaders and of entities who are involved in military offensives that are threatening civilians and regional stability, that perpetuate the conflict, against those who commit human rights abuses or violate international humanitarian law, or those who exacerbate the humanitarian crisis or seek to profit from the suffering of the Yemeni people" Ned Price stated.
"And we know that there are Houthi leaders who have done precisely those things. We have held many such Houthi leaders to account using these authorities" he added. "And again, we are not going to relent in doing so".
One of the first things Biden did when he entered into office as per his promise to reverse all of Trump's decisions was to reverse Trump's decision to list the Houthis as a terrorist organization. Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State during the time that Trump was President blacklisted the Houthi organization on January 19th, 2021 just a day before Biden took office.
"The designations are intended to hold Ansar Allah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure, and commercial shipping" Pompeo had said.
"The designations are also intended to advance efforts to achieve a peaceful, sovereign and united Yemen that is both free from Iranian interference and at peace with its neighbors".
Even while Biden has not made a decision yet whether or not to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization, Ned Price stated "At the same time, we do remain committed to doing all we can, as effectively as we can, to address the humanitarian emergency that continues to afflict Yemen. This is a country where, according to most estimates and many analyses, the site of the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe. More than 16 million Yemenis are suffering from food insecurity".
"And so as we seek to engage in diplomacy to bring about an end to the civil war, because we know a diplomatic resolution to the civil war will be the best antidote to the levels of instability, levels of violence, the humanitarian catastrophe, we are continuing to do all we can in the interim to provide and to encourage the world to raise its ambition to provide for the long-suffering Yemeni people" he added.
