The consensus of the Arab League Council on the necessity of classifying the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization came to increase pressure on the US administration headed by Joe Biden, who confirmed a few days ago that the decision is under consideration with the escalation of its violations inside and outside Yemen.
This came in the final statement of the meeting of the extraordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States, which discussed the terrorist incidents in the UAE.
This comes two days following the UN Security Council unanimously condemned the terrorist attacks of the Houthis on the UAE.
Also in parallel with the efforts of the US Congress to re-impose sanctions on the Houthi militia and reclassify it as terrorist following the attack, which drew widespread condemnation from more than 120 countries and organizations that condemned the attack and affirmed its support for the UAE once morest such attacks.
Former President Donald Trump included Al-Houthi on the US terrorism list at the beginning of last year, but the decision was canceled a week following the Biden administration came to power last January, as part of his attempts to end the Yemeni crisis, but the militias considered it a green light to increase violations inside and outside Yemen.
Absolute Arab solidarity
A decision was issued at the conclusion of the emergency meeting of the Arab League Council, headed by Kuwait, in which it called on all countries to designate Al Houthi as a terrorist organization.
It strongly condemned the brutal and vicious terrorist attack on civilians and civilian targets by the terrorist Houthi militia with three cruise missiles on the “Musaffah Icad 3” area and the new construction area at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
He stressed that these terrorist attacks committed by the Houthi militia constitute a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a real threat to vital civilian facilities, energy supplies and the stability of the global economy.
The decision stressed absolute solidarity with the UAE and standing by it and supporting it in all the measures it takes to defend its security, the security of its people and those residing on its land, and its national interests and capabilities.
The Arab League Council called on the United Nations and the UN Security Council to assume their responsibilities and take a decisive and unified stance once morest the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE to deter and confront the ongoing atrocities committed by the Houthi militia once morest civilians and their deliberate obstruction of the delivery of aid and humanitarian supplies and the confiscation of food.
A message to the US administration
Ambassador Hussein Haridi, former assistant foreign minister, said that the decision of the Arab meeting was “correct, necessary and important and confirms the solidarity of all Arab countries with the UAE and its people.”
Haridy confirmed to Al-Ain News that the decision is an indirect message to the administration of US President Joe Biden to reverse its decision not to consider Al-Houthi a terrorist group.
Haridy described the Houthi attack as a “dangerous escalation” by the Houthi group once morest sovereign countries, saying that the unanimous decision of the League Council at the level of permanent delegates is a “message to America to reconsider its decision not to consider the Houthi group a terrorist.”
Arab National Security
“The position of the Arab League is strong and required, because the Emirates and the Gulf region are within the framework of Arab national security,” this is how Ambassador Salah Halima, Vice President of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs and former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister, described the decisions of the Arab meeting.
He said, “The national security of the Emirates and the Gulf region is linked to Arab national security in general, and Gulf security is linked to the national security of the Red Sea region.”
The former assistant foreign minister stressed that “the Arab position is normal and required to support the UAE at this stage it is going through, and gives it the right to respond to any threats from Iran or its proxies, such as the Houthis in Yemen.”
And he added, “The Houthi group must be positioned as a terrorist organization, and there must be support for the UAE’s right to defend its security and stability, in order to preserve security and stability in the Gulf region and the Red Sea as well.”
Following the session, Dr. Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the President of the UAE, said that the Arab position stands once morest the aggression once morest the UAE and exposes the voices of dissonance driven by foreign agendas.
Gargash pointed out, in a tweet via “Twitter”, that there is “an Arab consensus without any country’s reservation on the Emirati draft resolution in the Arab League calling for the designation of Al Houthi as a terrorist organization.”
congressional bill
On Thursday, the US “Washington Free Beacon” website stated that Congress is moving towards reimposing sanctions on the Houthi militia in Yemen, following the attack launched by the Iranian-backed group on civilian targets in Abu Dhabi.
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz and a coalition of Republican foreign policy leaders are scheduled to introduce new legislation that would reclassify the Houthi movement as a terrorist organization, according to a copy of the measure related to the new sanctions obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.
Cruz’s bill would require President Joe Biden to designate the Houthi and all its affiliated groups as a terrorist organization within 30 days of Congress passing it.
With Senate seats divided equally between Republican and Democratic parties, in addition to the wave of anxiety generated by the recent Houthi offensive, the legislation might attract Democratic lawmakers.
Biden said during a press conference, last Wednesday, that the designation of the Houthi group as a terrorist organization is under consideration.
Cruz’s bill has the support of some of the most prominent foreign policy hawks in the Senate, including Republican Senators Tom Cotton, Republicans Marco Rubio and Jim Inhoff, and is expected to gain more supporters in the coming days.
