Yemenis protest US blacklisting of Houthis

People have taken to the streets in Yemen to denounce the US decision to designate the Houthi Ansarullah movement as a “terrorist” organization.

Yemeni people staged several protests in the northwestern province of Sa’ada after the Muslim Friday prayers to denounce the US decision.

The protesters said the decision of the outgoing administration of President Donald Trump was prompted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which is a key party to the Riyadh-led coalition waging war on Yemen.

They also described the US as “the mother of terrorism” and the main cause of all sedition and crimes in the world.

The demonstrators also denounced the continued Saudi aggression against and siege of their country, condemning the silence of the United Nations and rights groups regarding the brutal war.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the designation would take effect on January 19 — one day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Washington’s decision has drawn criticism from the United Nations, the European Union, and aid groups, as well as lawmakers inside the United States.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have welcomed the US administration’s decision to blacklist the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Since late 2014, the Houthi movement has been running state affairs, after former Riyadh-back president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigned and fled to the Saudi capital.

Months later, the Saudi regime and a number of its allies launched the deadly war on Yemen to reinstall Hadi, but the US-backed campaign has flatly failed in the face of stiff resistance by the Yemeni armed forces, led by the Houthis and allied popular groups.