Blinken discusses with his Omani counterpart the Houthis ‘ detention of UN officials and diplomats
Yemen Monitor/Newsroom
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi and his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, discussed the detention of UN employees and diplomats by the Houthis in Yemen.
This came during a phone call between Al-Busaidi and Blinken, on Friday, as stated in a joint statement by the Omani and US Foreign Ministries.
The two ministers emphasized the importance of continuing to support efforts to achieve peace, releasing the detained UN employees and other civilians, and working towards a cease-fire.
The US State Department said that Blinken stressed in a phone call with Al-Busaidi that the Houthi attacks and actions pose a threat to the peace process in Yemen.
Oman has maintained diplomatic ties with the Houthi group, which is led by Abdul-Salam Mohammed, who has official diplomatic immunity.
On Thursday, the US demanded that the Houthis release dozens of “Yemeni employees of the United Nations and diplomatic agencies and non-governmental organizations”, according to a statement by US Ambassador to Yemen, Stephen Fagin, obtained by Anadolu Agency.
In a statement on Monday, the Houthi group claimed that they had “detained a US-Israeli intelligence cell in official and unofficial institutions in Yemen”, without specifying their identities or nationalities.
Over the past few days, Houthi intelligence agencies have conducted a series of raids and arrested dozens of international and local employees working in the country, most of them working for the United Nations and the Democratic National Institute, funded by the US, which works to support democracy, and employees of a local group defending for human rights.
Houthis have touted their recent actions as their most significant intelligence breakthroughs. However, there is growing skepticism surrounding the validity of many of the accusations and confessions they have obtained, particularly those related to economic, agricultural, political, educational, and civil society matters. These concerns stem from the lack of substantial evidence supporting these claims.
Furthermore, over the past few years, the Houthi group has detained around 20 Yemeni employees who were previously employed at the US embassy in Sana’a. The embassy suspended its operations in the city in 2014. These arbitrary arrests raise serious human rights concerns and highlight the Houthi authorities’ disregard for the rule of law.
