Sanaa airport.. Yemen exposes militia blackmail
Yemen’s cabinet on Sunday urged the UN envoy to uncover Houthi irregularities at Sanaa airport, saying the militia’s intransigence proves its practice of political blackmail.
In a statement following its meeting in Aden on Sunday, the Yemeni cabinet said, “Continuing to deal in a diplomatic language is of no use to the Houthi militias who are trying to make political gains from the suffering and blood of Yemenis”.
The statement called on the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to clearly disclose the violations committed by Houthi militias that led to the obstruction of the opening Sanaa airport and the launch of its first commercial flight, which was scheduled for Sunday.
He said the Houthi militia violated the agreement reached through the UN envoy’s office to operate flights from Sanaa airport in accordance with the procedures in place at Say’un and Aden airports, including the issuance of government-issued passports. Passports are sovereign national documents issued by only one entity, the Yemeni government.
The statement revealed that Houthi militias insisted on adding 57 passengers who needed to be issued passports by the relevant authorities. This could have been coordinated and addressed through the facilities provided by the government to help facilitate procedures for operating flights from Sanaa airport.
It said the intransigence of the Houthi militias caused the postponement of the first flight scheduled through Sanaa airport, depriving 104 passengers who met all requirements and insisted on adding
Houthi intransigence proves to the Yemeni people and the international community that “these militias do not care about the suffering of citizens and devote all their efforts to the practice of political blackmail and trading in humanitarian issues in order to achieve political gains”.
The Yemeni Council of Ministers renewed its request to the United Nations and its envoy to deal firmly with the Houthi violations of the truce, to exert pressure to implement its obligations under it, not to exploit it for further mobilization and to arrange its situation on the ground, and to bomb civilians.
He warned of the continued UN disregard that threatens the ceasefire and the truce in general, which the political leadership, represented by the Presidential Command Council and the government, are keen not to do.
He said that the Houthi militia, as usual in reneging on agreements, did not commit to implementing the economic and humanitarian measures related to the truce, including lifting the unjust siege on the city of Taiz, and refraining until now from naming its representatives in the special committee to open the crossings in Taiz in accordance with the text of the truce initiative.
It said the army, under the instructions of the political leadership and the government, is committed to the UN truce, but is ready to respond at any time to any breach by renegade militias if they continue.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, expressed concern over the postponement of the first commercial flight from Sanaa airport, which was scheduled for today, and urged the parties to work constructively with him and his office to find a solution that allows the resumption of flights as planned.
Earlier on Sunday, the Yemeni government exposed Houthi militia obstacles at Sanaa airport, including closing all ticket sales outlets, restricting the issuance of tickets to the Yemen Airways office in Sanaa and issuing tickets for travelers carrying Houthi-issued passports that are classified as forged documents.
Since 2016, UN and relief flights have been arriving daily at Sanaa airport with government and Arab coalition facilities to alleviate the suffering of Yemenis, but Houthi militias have taken this as a pressure card to blackmail the UN.
