Ansarullah leader: Muslim nations must cut ties with countries allowing sacrilege

Houthi was addressing a ceremony on Friday to observe Ashura, the 10th day of the lunar month of Muharram which commemorates the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hossein, the third Shia Imam and the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).

The Ansarullah leader also urged all Muslim nations to place an economic boycott on those states.

Over the past month, the Holy Qur’an has been subject to acts of sacrilege by extremist elements in separate incidents in Sweden and Denmark, where authorities gave a green light to the desecration.

The Muslim world has responded. Swedish and Danish ambassadors have been either expelled or summoned to several Muslim countries.

The Ansarullah leader blamed extremist Jewish elements in certain Western countries for the blasphemy, which, he said, specifically targeted Islam and the Muslim community.

Elsewhere in his speech, the Ansarullah leader pointed to the commemoration of Ashura. He said Islam and its grand values are manifested in Imam Hossein’s move.

The third Shia Imam and his 72 companions were martyred in 680 AD after fighting courageously for justice against thousands of soldiers of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I. Houthi said today the Muslim community in certain parts of the world faces “tyranny and Yazidi brutality.”

Continued support for Palestinian cause

The Ansarullah leader also reaffirmed Yemen’s principled stance towards the Palestinian cause.

Houthi expressed hope that the resistance front would achieve the desired goal of freedom for Palestine.

‘Ultimately, Yemen will achieve victory’

On the war on Yemen, Houthi said the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported by the United States must end the aggression against Yemen and forget carving out parts of the war-ravaged country. He said the Yemeni nation would ultimately come out victorious with steadfastness and faith.

Saudi Arabia initiated the war in March 2015, enlisting the assistance of some of its regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates, as well as massive shipments of advanced weaponry from the US and Western Europe. The Western governments further extended their political and logistical support to Riyadh in their failed bid to restore power in Yemen to the country’s former Saudi-installed government.

The former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, resigned from the presidency in late 2014 and later fled to Riyadh amid a political conflict with Ansarullah. The movement has been running Yemen’s affairs in the absence of a functioning administration.

The war has led to the death of tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire nation into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.