Former US official in Yemen: remove the Houthis from the terrorism list is a grave mistake
English - Monday 08 February 2021 الساعة 08:41 am
Aden, NewsYemen:
Dave Harden, managing director of the Georgetown Strategic Group, said: “Yemen has become a foreign policy priority for US President Joe Biden, at least in the early days of his inauguration.
Harden, who oversaw US aid to Yemen before his retirement in April 2018, added that "the Biden administration's intention to remove the Houthis from the terrorism list is a grave mistake."
Dave Harden said, in a series of tweets on his Twitter account translated by "NewsYemen": "The Houthis are basically responsible for the humanitarian crisis in northern Yemen, and they are the only party. They could simply allow humanitarian supplies and workers to reach the most vulnerable." Weakness of the Yemeni people, but they rejected, in short, the Houthis are a bad group. "
He continued, "Some reports indicate that Foreign Minister Blinken is considering canceling the classification of the Houthis as a terrorist organization unilaterally, and apparently, completely before the deadline of February 26, if that was true and there were no back-channel negotiations, then the Houthis will see their removal from The list is that it is an American weakness."
And he added: "From the Houthis' point of view, they did not have to negotiate in order to obtain an important American concession. Therefore, the Houthis believe that they won the first round of negotiations without dialogue, meeting or concession."
He believed that the Houthi leadership might become more daring in consolidating its authority in its areas of control and threatening the government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in the neighboring areas, especially in the east.
The director of the Georgetown Strategy Group stressed that any move - by the Biden administration in terms of removing the Houthis from the list of terrorist groups - should be stopped until May 3, the date specified by Congress that called for a legal administrative report on Yemen's policy.
