Yemen’s Houthis: UN’s request to release a UAE-flagged ship rejected

SANA’A, YEMEN (Parliament Politics Magazine): The Rwabee was carrying military supplies, according to Houthi rebels, who accuse the UN of cooperating with “murderers who violate international laws.”

 According to Houthi rebels, the Rwabee was carrying military supplies. They went on to accuse the UN of cooperating with “murderers who violate international laws.”

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have turned down a UN appeal to free an Emirati-flagged vessel and its 11-member crew that they seized earlier this month, claiming the ship was carrying “military assets.”

The Rwabee was a “civilian cargo vessel” chartered by a Saudi business that had been in international waters transporting equipment for a field hospital, according to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Hussein al-Azzi, a Houthi official, alleged it was carrying military resources. He informed the Houthis’ Al Masirah television that the Rwabee vessel was carrying guns for radicals, not toys for children.

The United Nations Security Council urged the “prompt release” of the Rwabee and her crew on Friday, emphasising “the significance of freedom of movement in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea,” a vital maritime route.

The 15-member Security Council requested “the prompt release of the vessel and its crew” and emphasised “the imperative of protecting the safety and well-being of the crew” in a statement authored by the United Kingdom and endorsed unanimously.

It also urged “all parties to de-escalate the situation in Yemen,” and include working with the UN special envoy to go back to the bargaining table.

Al-Azzi retaliated by accusing the United Nations of cooperating with “murderers who break international law.”

He claimed the Rwabee belonged to a country that engages in hostilities against our people and at conflict with Yemen, and has illegally entered (Yemeni) territorial waters.

After the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, the previous year, a Saudi-led military coalition entered in Yemen in March 2015 to assist the internationally recognised government.

The Rwabee was taken by the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, off the coast of Hodeidah on January 3, and subsequently published a video purporting to show military equipment on board, including trucks, military-style inflatable rafts, and other vehicles, and what looked to be a stockpile of guns.

A Houthi military spokesman Yahia Sare’e said that it was absolutely obvious this day that the intel that this ship had been transporting a civilian field hospital was not correct and that it was unmistakably military gear.

The Saudi-led coalition accused the Houthis of “armed piracy” and said the ship was carrying medical supplies from a demolished Saudi field hospital on Yemen’s remote island of Socotra, without providing any evidence.

The Houthis are accused of transporting weaponry onto the ship, according to Saudi official media.

Yemen has been immersed in civil war since the Houthis gained control of the city, Sanaa, and much of the northern half of the nation in 2014, compelling the government to evacuate to the south and then to Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations informed about $3.9bn will be needed this year for helping 16 million people in countries that are torn by war.