Houthis release 5 Yemeni UN staffers in Sanaa after weekend detention at offices

Audio By Carbonatix

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Houthi rebels released five Yemeni United Nations staff members and allowed 15 international ones to move freely within the U.N. compound after detaining them there in Sanaa over the weekend, a U.N. spokesperson said Monday.

Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesperson, also said Houthi security forces had left the compound after the latest of such raids on international organizations.

The Houthis have a long-running crackdown against the U.N. and others working in Yemen's rebel-held areas, including capital Sanaa, the coastal city of Hodeida and rebel stronghold in the northern province Sadaa.

The rebels have repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the detained U.N. staff and employees of other organizations and embassies were spies, which the U.N. has denied.

Dozens of people have been detained. A World Food Program worker died in detention earlier this year in Sadaa.

Dujarric also told reporters Monday that Secretary-General António Guterres spoke with the foreign ministers and leaders of Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia earlier in the day regarding the detainment of staff.

He said that as the U.N. engages in the sensitive negotiations with the Houthis, it is important for member states who have influence in the region, like those three countries, to use their leverage to assist in the release of international and national staff.

Earlier Monday, the Iran-backed rebels held a funeral for their military chief of staff who was killed in a recent Israeli strike, with more than 1,000 people gathered in Sanaa.

The Houthis acknowledged last week that Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other rebel leaders. The Houthis did not say when the strike took place. The death further escalated tensions between the rebels and Israel.

Nearly two months ago, Israeli airstrikes killed senior Houthi government officials in Sanaa, including their prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi.

The Houthis said al-Ghamari was killed along with his 13-year-old son, Hussain, and “several of his companions,” according to the rebel-controlled SABA news agency, which didn’t provide further details.

Many in the funeral crowd on Monday vented their anger at Israel.

One mourner, Ayham Hassan, said “Israel is the biggest enemy for Arabs and Muslims.” He spoke to The Associated Press by phone from Sanaa.

The U.N. sanctioned al-Ghamari for his “leading role in orchestrating the Houthis’ military efforts that are directly threatening the peace, security and stability of Yemen, as well as cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia.”

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in 2021 for his responsibility in “orchestrating attacks by Houthi forces impacting Yemeni civilians” and said he had been trained by Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The U.S. and Israel had launched an air and naval campaign against the Houthis in response to the rebels’ missile and drone attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis have said they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians over the war in Gaza.

Their attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods pass each year.

___

Khaled reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed from the United Nations.