Arab parliamentarians urge UN to call Houthis ‘terrorists’

Thu 20 June 2019:

Arab parliamentarians gathered in Cairo on Wednesday urged the United Nations to list Yemen’s Houthi militia as a “terrorist organization” while accusing it of attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Houthis have intensified attacks in the past few weeks against the kingdom, which launched military operations in Yemen in 2015 as part of a coalition to push back against the Shiite militia.

The parliament of the Arab League decided on Wednesday to “ask the UN and the Security Council to take a firm and immediate position by classifying the putschist Houthi militia a terrorist organization.” The body made up of representatives from the parliaments in the pan-Arab bloc accused the Houthis of “regularly targeting civilian and vital infrastructure in Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles or drones.” On June 12, a missile fired at Abha airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia wounded dozens of civilians – in an attack claimed by the Houthis.

The Houthis also claimed responsibility for a series of drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, including an attack that damaged two oil pipeline pumping stations on May 14. Saudi Arabia accuses its regional arch-rival Iran of being behind the attacks, either directly or through supporting the Houthi militia. On Wednesday, the parliamentarians meeting in Cairo also asked the Arab League to put before the UN Security Council “the issue of Iran’s threats and interference.”

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