[19/12/2022 02:27]

RIYADH - SABA
His Excellency President Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, Chairman of Presidential Leadership Council, stated that the legitimate government has continued to observe the UN-brokered humanitarian truce even though the terrorist Houthi militia refused to renew it because we are keen to allay the humanitarian suffering of the Yemeni people, particularly in the Iran-backed Houthi militia-controlled regions.

In a televised interview with Al-Arabia TV Channel, His Excellency said the failure of the Houthi militia to fulfill its obligations under the truce agreement about opening Taiz routes could have been a justification for the legitimate government to refuse renewing the truce, re-close Sana'a international airport and stop the flow of oil derivatives to Hodeidah seaport, but the government has made alleviating the humanitarian suffering a priority and key objective.

He noted that the concessions offered by the government and its consent to maintain the truce one-sidedly and it has continued for the interest of the Yemeni people and in order to prove the baseless and outrageous claims of the Terrorist Houthi militias about the injustice they have suffered.

His Excellency added saying " Today, the war has been ceased unilaterally, from the government side, meanwhile the militias openly declared that they are going to go on fighting, this has disclosed their false claims, proved to the Yemeni people and to the international community that these militias have never been peace-seeker or peace proposal".

He said that the Presidential Leadership Council, the legitimate government and the Saudi-led Arab Coalition are peace-seekers but they do not find a peace partner from the side of the Houthi militias.

His Excellency touched upon the international community position about the negotiations to renew the truce amid the terrorist Houthi militias intransigence saying the international community is pressuring the legitimate government given that it is an internationally recognized government has obligations toward the Yemeni people and international community, while the Houthis militias do not care about anything.

He referred to the International stance about the Houthi terrorist escalation including the UN and US envoys and others saying that they have only condemned the militias' intransigence about renewing the truce.

He said these condemnation are not sufficient to deter these militias but " it is very necessary to be there practical actions to pressure the militias to come to peace consultations, stop the war, achieve peace and stability for the Yemeni people. This is what is required from the international community, the UN's envoy and the US envoy and not condemnations".

The Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council called on the International community to " designate this terrorist group as a "Terrorist Organization" given that it is part from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Lebanese Hezbollah which are designated as terrorist groups, why Houthi group is not designated a "Terrorist Organization".

President al-Alimi made reference to the step taken by the former US administration about designating this group a terrorist organization. He viewed the abolishing this designation by current US administration as a reward for the militias allows them to go on their terrorist actions and go far on their violence and atrocities against the Yemeni peoples, women, children and private-owned and public properties and assets.

His Excellency pointed to the similarity between Houthi militias' crimes and the practices of the two terrorist organizations of al-Qaeda and ISIS. He confirmed that there is collaboration between Houthi militias and the two organizations of al-Qaeda and ISIS, a matter that the legitimate Yemeni government has proved practically.

He said" We have had detainees who were indicted in terrorist cases including the attack on the U.S.S Col American destroyer, they were released by the terrorist Houthi militias, provided with weapons, equipment, money and dispatched them the government-controlled regions to carry out terrorist operations. It happened that there were confrontation between these terrorist operatives of al-Qaeda and Units of Fighting Terrorism, some eights of these terrorist operatives were killed in al-Dhale'a governorate, five of the government's troops were also killed among the Commander of Fighting Terrorism Units.

He stated that this is only a case-in point about the collaboration between the Houthi militias and the two terrorist organizations of al-Qaeda and ISIS, the Yemeni intelligence services report to the international community about this collaboration.
His Excellency also talked about the relation between the Terrorist Houthi militias and Iran. He noted that this relation was emerged after 2000 or 2004, it is rather started long time earlier. This relation started to be established in Yemen in 1983 simultaneously with the creation of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

He added that on top of this group had been Badr Addin al-Houthi, the father of Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the current leader of the militias, and Salah Flaitah, the father of the spokesperson of the Houthis Mohammed Abdussalm Mansour. It happened that they carried out terrorist operations in Sana'a including hand- grenades attacks on the building of Belqis Cinema, killing the bodyguard of the Cinema at that time.

He confirmed that some of them were arrested and imprisoned while others fled to Iran at that time and later on they were returned through mediation with the government in 1986.

He said " It must be clear for everybody that the Iranian scheme in Yemen came within an early strategic plan, and it was not born in 2000 or 2004. The issue was started with the return of Khamenei and the beginning of the Iranian Strategic Expansion Scheme in the region".

His Excellency pointed to the efforts made by the Yemeni government during the six wars of Sa'ada in order to convince the international community, first of all the United States about the Iranian unlimited support for Houthi group. He stated that we handed over files including documents and solid evidences proving the Iranian support for the Houthis.

His Excellency stressed on the importance of the resolution of the National Defense Council about designating Houthi militia as a Terrorist Organization and that is in response to its escalation and attacks on the oil facilities and international maritime navigation and the continuation of the military attacks in different flashpoints.

He explained the objectives of the resolution and the measures have been taken in this regard which targeting the Houthi militias' leaders, companies and corporates affiliated to them in order to Drain their financing resources.

He explained the International stance about this designation saying that the government has not received any criticism from the ambassadors of the western countries to Yemen.

He reassured everybody that this designation is carefully targeting the terrorist Houthis militias' leaders and the corporates affiliated to these leaders, entities and individuals including the ones who were blacklisted by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition and the international community.

He said" When you ask the international community to designate the Houthi group as a terrorist organization, you have to start this then demand others to do so, we've taken this decision, therefore I'm not saying there is implicit consent but I do say that there is no criticism at all from the international community about this decision".

His Excellency touched upon the issue of the paying the salaries and the Houthi militias' intransigence about this even though the huge amounts of funds they collect from the taxes and customs of oil derivatives.

The militias' leaders have continued to loot these funds in clear violation of Stokcholm Agreement which clearly stipulates that the revenues of oil taxes shall be deposited in the branch of the Yemeni Central Bank in Hodeidah to pay the salaries of the employees of civil service in the militias-controlled regions.

The president stressed that as for the payment of salaries across the country, there is no problem on the government's side and that it is Houthis who obstruct this due right, especially after they issued what they call a code of professional conduct, which stipulates that whoever does not support their terrorist militias should not have a salary, and hence it becomes clear that the Houthi [rebel leader] is demanding salary payments for his militiamen only.

His Excellency the President denied the existence of any disputes between the members of the leadership council as is being spread on some hostile media kitchens; that he is denied return to Aden; or that some council members are detained abroad and banned from returning to the country.

He confirmed that he and all the members will soon be in the interim capital, Aden. He also confirmed that the Leadership Council continues its work, holds periodic meetings via visual communication technology, and takes many decisions based on the discussions that take place for the files included in the agenda of the meeting, pointing to the presence of the government at home and its fulfillment of its duty to the fullest extent and according to the available capabilities, as well as the continuation of the regular payment of salaries for employees in the public sector.

He said that starting this month, the government will face problems in the issue of salary disbursement due to the terrorist Houthi militia's attacks on the oil ports, which caused the cessation of oil exports after drowning the pump, which will cost the state more than fifty million dollars to repair it in a period of no less than six months. In his interview, His Excellency the President reviewed the reforms undertaken by the Leadership Council, since its establishment, to rebuild institutions, saying that the Council has began to rebuild the judiciary, prosecution institutions and courts, which are working today to their fullest capacity in all liberated areas.

He also pointed on the functioning of the joint security and military committee in accordance with the program that it submitted to the leadership council and was approved.

In the context of these reforms, he referred to three phases of the committee's work, the first is the establishment of a joint operations room in Aden, and the second is the unification of the operations theater and linking it to the operations room so that this room is representative of all military formations and units, and the third is the stage of integration, and this is a late stage that cannot be implemented at the present time. In light of the continuing battles.

His Excellency the President also touched on the correction processes carried out by the government under the directives of the Presidential Leadership Council for Yemeni diplomacy, as it was able, within a year, to reduce the number of diplomats from 376 to 326, and to reduce the number of attachés from 121 to 91, adding that the government is currently discussing a report on reducing the number of attachés abroad to 10 or 15 attachés, and the lists and names of diplomats will be reviewed on the way to reducing the number of embassies abroad.

Regarding addressing the problem of scholarship students, His Excellency the President said that the government, and based on the directives of the Chairman of the Leadership Council, formed a committee from it, the judiciary and the Central Agency for Control and Accounting to count all students on scholarships abroad, exclude those who are not eligible and confirm those who are eligible, noting what the government has achieved in recent years regarding reducing the external scholarship bill from 12 million dollars to 7 million dollars a year.

His Excellency the President emphasized the strategic nature of the relationship linking Yemen with the Arab Coalition, praising the support provided by the Arab Coalition countries, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, regarding improving the service and development sectors.

At the end of the meeting, the President sent a message to the national army, the resistance forces on the various fronts fighting against the militias, in which he affirmed that this Iranian-backed coup will be reversed through peace or war, and the Yemeni people will not accept this Iranian presence at all.

In a message directed to the Yemeni population in the areas controlled by the Houthi militias, His Excellency the President affirmed that all the concessions made by the Council and the government are not for the sake of the terrorist Houthi militia, but rather for the sake of the people, reaffirming the interest of the government in the issue of paying salaries.

His Excellency the President saluted the legendary steadfastness of the people of Taiz in the face of the Iranian project, stressing in his message to the people of the southern governorates that the government gives priority to improving services in the interim capital, Aden, and the liberated governorates, as well as to rebuilding institutions.

His Excellency the President pointed out that it is not in the interest of any party to experience instability in the southern governorates, and that those who are pushing for the instability of these governorates are the Houthis and the Iranian project in order to overthrow the Presidential Council and to indirectly communicate to the citizens that "we the militias are fitter for you than the Presidential Leadership Council or the government.

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