‘Hell for us’: Why Yemenis fear the US Houthi ‘terrorist’ designation
Al Jazeera
It could cripple remittances, financial transactions and destroy an already battered economy, say Yemenis.
Sanaa, Yemen — Abdu Yahia is no supporter of the Houthis. But the 37-year-old Sanaa resident has been praying for the past month that the armed Yemeni group stay off the United States’ list of designated “terrorist” outfits.
He receives aid from a humanitarian organisation in Sanaa, and fears that tag on the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, could stifle the flow of that assistance for a country whose economy has been devastated by a decade of war.
His prayers didn’t work.
On January 17, Washington gave the Houthis a one-month notice to stop their attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden or face the prospect of being put on the US “terror” list.
The Houthis rejected the ultimatum, insisting that they were not targeting civilians, that they were attacking only ships linked to Israel and that their campaign was aimed at pressuring Israel to stop its devastating war on Gaza, in which nearly 30,000 people have been killed.
