[THEBAGHDADPOST] Humanitarian agencies say a possible U.S. designation of Yemen...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
group as a foreign terrorist organization would prevent lifesaving aid to the conflict-riven country, where fears of famine are rising.
Washington sees the group, which controls northern Yemen and its most populated areas, as an extension of Iranian influence in the region. President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
’s administration has been threatening to blacklist the group, sources have told Rooters, as part of its "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran.
Over the past few weeks concern has risen among humanitarian groups that such a designation might be imminent, sources said.
Two separate sources told Rooters around a dozen American aid workers had left the country this week. Other sources said an informal note had been sent to American aid workers last week, in anticipation of potential safety concerns in Houthi-controlled areas.
Aid agencies worry their work would be criminalised. The Houthis - also called Ansar Allah - are the de facto authority in northern Yemen and humanitarian organizations have to get their permits to carry out aid programs, as well as work with ministries and local financial systems.
Should the U.S. government proceed, it should also issue a ’General License’ that ensures humanitarian groups can still work with Houthi authorities and provide aid, said Jan Egeland, a former U.N. aid chief who now heads the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which works in Yemen.
"We must be able to negotiate access for our aid and protection of civilians with all sides to all conflicts," he said.
The U.N. describes Yemen, already poor before almost six years of war, as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the population reliant on aid.
This year the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...pandemic, economic decline, floods, escalating armed conflict and a severe aid funding shortage have again raised the possibility of famine.
"A potential designation is coming at a time of unprecedented need ... but our ability to respond is diminishing," said the NRC’s Sultana Begum from Yemen.
Aid workers also worry a designation - with the increased burden on banks’ compliance mechanisms - would impact Yemenis’ access to financial systems and remittances from abroad, as well as complicating imports and raising goods prices further.