ISLAMABAD: President of Yemen Dr Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi has urged the international community and countries around the Red Sea to take serious note of the threat posed by Houthi militias to Yemen, the region and international navigation.
In his address marking the 64th anniversary of the 26 September Revolution, Dr Al-Alimi, who is also Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said Yemen’s national struggle was essentially aimed at preserving the state, the republican system, national identity, equal citizenship and the rule of law against the Houthi coup project.
He warned that the Houthi threat was no longer limited to Yemen. He said the continued use of Yemeni territory and coastline by the militias as launching points for hostile operations had turned the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab into an arena of threats to regional and international security.
The Yemeni president said attacks on maritime navigation and commercial vessels posed a direct danger to one of the world’s most important international waterways, affecting global trade, energy supplies and the movement of essential goods.
Dr Al-Alimi stressed that Bab Al-Mandab and the Red Sea must not be used as tools of coercion, blackmail or power projection through force. He said the continued militarisation of Yemen’s coastline and the targeting of maritime routes by Houthi militias threatened not only Yemen and neighbouring states, but also international shipping, commercial interests and the stability of global supply chains.
He said Yemen’s security was inseparable from the security of the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab. He added that the protection of these vital waterways required the restoration of the Yemeni state’s sovereignty over its territory, coastline, ports and territorial waters.
According to him, the continued Houthi control over parts of the country and their use of Yemeni territory as a platform for military escalation had become a wider regional and international security challenge.
At the same time, the Yemeni president made it clear that Yemenis living under Houthi control were not the enemy and should not be treated as part of the militias’ project. He reaffirmed the state’s readiness to facilitate a safe return to the ranks of the Republic and constitutional legitimacy, with amnesty in accordance with the law for those who abandon the militias and end their participation in hostilities.
Dr Al-Alimi also appreciated the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and called on brotherly and friendly countries to assist the Yemeni government in confronting threats to Yemen’s state and institutions, as well as to regional security and international waterways.
