US to designate Yemen’s Houthis as terrorist group, says Pompeo
SMA NEWS – WASHINGTON
The outgoing U.S. administration is to designate Yemen’s Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Sunday that Washington will designate Yemen’s Houthi movement, known as Ansarallah, as a foreign terrorist group.
“I also intend to designate three of Ansarallahs leaders, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists”, Pomepo said in a statement.
Pompeo said that the Department of State will notify Congress of his intent, although they could still block the decision which could see the Houthis blacklisted a day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on 20 January. In November it was reported that US President Donald Trump was planning to add the Houthis to the US list of terrorist groups.
“The designations are intended to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure and commercial shipping,” he explained.
