Jemen

The administration of President Joe Biden has formally delisted Yemen’s Houthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organization” and “Specially Designated Global Terrorists”, undoing the last-minute move under former President Donald Trump that the United Nations and aid groups said threatened to further devastate the war-torn country.

Martin Griffiths’s trip is part of efforts to bring together more diplomatic, regional and international support for a negotiated political solution to Yemen’s war.

The United States said Friday it intends to revoke the terrorist designation for Yemen's Houthi movement in response to the country's humanitarian crisis, reversing one of the most criticized last-minute decisions of the Trump administration.

The UN on Friday told journalists that it welcomed the decision by the United States “to strengthen it’s diplomatic engagement” and support efforts led by the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, to ends years of conflict there. 

US President Joe Biden announced the end of US support for a Saudi-led coalition that is waging war in Yemen, in a major policy reversal from the previous administration that may alter the course of the conflict.

On 10 January, the former United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, announced the designation of the Houthis (Ansar Allah) as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist entity. The designation entered into effect on 19 January.

Civilians in Yemen’s Hudaydah Governorate, face a growing threat from escalating clashes, with shelling of residential areas ongoing, endangering thousands.

Yemen’s warring sides Sunday resumed United Nations-backed negotiations over a prisoner swap, the world body said, more than three months after they completed the war’s largest exchange. …

Aid agencies are urging the incoming Biden Administration to immediately revoke the designation of the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.

The United States government’s decision to designate Ansar Allah, more commonly known as the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, as terrorists, is likely to have “serious humanitarian and political repercussions”, the UN spokesperson said on Monday.