The refusal by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to renew a nationwide truce last month was linked to Iran’s internal turmoil, Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak told The National on Sunday.
The Iran-backed rebels rejected efforts by the UN's special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to extend the ceasefire with the internationally-recognised government for a further six months before it expired in early October. Mr Grundberg had also proposed broadening the scope of the agreement.
“We cannot understand the Houthi stance towards the truce without the link to Iran’s internal affairs,” Mr bin Mubarak said on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.
Iran has been rocked by nationwide anti-government protests since mid-September that show no signs of ending despite a bloody crackdown.
“So the Iranians are trying to use the Houthis as one of the cards they have and this is one of the main reasons why the Houthis are taking such a difficult position,” the foreign minister said.
He said the Yemeni government was expecting the rebels to agree to a renewal of the UN-brokered truce that began on April 2 and was extended twice for two-month periods.
“For me, Iran will never lose the cards of its militias in all these countries and they will keep using them. The Houthis are one of these cards, and with very little investment they are gaining a lot,” he said.
The Houthis stormed the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, ousting the government and triggering a civil war that has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Tehran has said it supports the Houthis politically but denies sending the group weapons, contrary to evidence found by international investigations.
Mr bin Mubarak said Yemen was going through a “period of no war, no peace” and that the rebels had started to target the government’s economic resources, mainly oil vessels and facilities.
“This is a really serious escalation by the Houthis. The consequences of such attacks will impact the Yemeni people negatively,” he said. “Now everyone is watching and waiting.”
He said there was no “serious work” to exert pressure on the Houthis and on Iran.
The minister said the Houthis' actions posed a grave danger to global energy sources and international shipping lanes.
“Establishing peace in Yemen is a basic guarantee for navigation and the security of the region,” he said.
The government is trying to obtain peace as fast as possible because “Yemenis have had enough suffering”.
“Despite all that the Houthis did, we are still inviting them to be a part of Yemen’s future, but they just need to respect one constitutional principle which is that all Yemenis are equal.”
“Yemenis will not accept that people have hierarchies and also Yemenis will not accept Iran's imposition in the country,” he said.
Iran’s interference is a red line, said the minister, otherwise the government is “ready to accept everything”.
For peace to be achieved, the international community must have a proper understanding about the nature of Yemen’s conflict and they must show their determination, he said.
The minister called for more investment and funding to help government institutions to serve the public.
“The international community must support the Yemeni government by setting them up politically and economically, especially in liberated areas,” he said.
“For the last few years, the international community has dealt with Yemen from a humanitarian perspective, but they are not dealing with the cause of the problem — this is the Houthi militias,” he said.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
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The specs
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Jetour T1 specs
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The specs
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MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 1 (Martinez 18' pen)
Juventus 2 (Dybala 4', Higuain 80')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Favourite hobby: I love to sing but I don’t get to sing as much nowadays sadly.
Favourite book: Anything by Sidney Sheldon.
Favourite movie: The Exorcist 2. It is a big thing in our family to sit around together and watch horror movies, I love watching them.
Favourite holiday destination: The favourite place I have been to is Florence, it is a beautiful city. My dream though has always been to visit Cyprus, I really want to go there.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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