Spokesman Decries UK’s ‘Dirty’ Role in Occupation of Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for Yemen’s National Salvation Government denounced the British foreign secretary’s comments during a visit to Yemen as a testimony to the “dirty” role that the UK has played in the occupation of the Arab country.
In response to British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s remarks during a visit to Aden, Zaifullah al-Shami, the Yemeni government’s spokesperson, said Hunt’s stances left no doubt that the UK has been playing a dirty role in the occupation of Yemen.
On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Hunt claimed that a peace process in Yemen’s port city of Hudaydah “could be dead within weeks.”
“There is a narrative in Saudi, the United Arab Emirates and the Yemen government that you simply cannot trust the Houthis; they never do what they promise to do and that will be confirmed if this does not happen,” Hunt said in criticism of Houthi Ansarullah movement.
In comments on Saturday, chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee criticized Hunt’s comments about efforts for peace in Yemen, denouncing London as an accomplice in the foreign aggression against Yemeni people.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi slammed Hunt’s remarks as “misleading”, saying the UK foreign secretary must realize that the Yemeni people are well aware that Britain is literally an accomplice in the military campaign against Yemen, as Yemenis are being killed by the British weapons.
Hunt knows that the British draft resolutions on Yemen are unfair and meant to serve the US and Israeli interests at the UN Security Council, al-Houthi had announced.
He also stressed that Hunt could not play the role of a just mediator and has no right to present himself as an evenhanded party.
In 2016, then-UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said British troops were helping identify targets for the Saudi-led military campaign against Yemen and claimed they haven’t found any “deliberate” breaches of humanitarian law.
In November 2018, British charity organization Oxfam said its humanitarian aid projects in Yemen have repeatedly been bombed by the Saudi-led coalition, slamming London for refusing to halt their support and weapon supplies to Riyadh.
In April 2018, the Saudi-led jets struck a water supply system which impacted the livelihood of at least 6,000 people in Yemen, which is suffering one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the 21st century.
The UK government has been widely criticized for its continued support of Saudi Arabia and its arms supplies, which contributed to the destruction of vital infrastructure and mounting civilian casualties.
Since Britain makes billions on these arms sales, over the last three years London has repeatedly dodged the pressure to cut arms deals to the Saudis.
At the same time, despite UK’s hand in exacerbating the crisis, the country has also spent more than £400mn in aid to the country throughout the course of the war. As a potential way out of the spotlight, Prime Minister Theresa May has backed the American call for a “ceasefire” in Yemen, even though the record of the US supporting the Saudis, no matter what, undermines whatever peace initiative they may now try to promote.
Official UN figures say that more than 15,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began in March 2015.
The Saudi war has impacted over seven million children in Yemen who now face a serious threat of famine, according to UNICEF figures. Over 6,000 children have either been killed or sustained serious injuries since 2015, UN children’s agency said. The humanitarian situation in the country has also been exacerbated by outbreaks of cholera, polio, and measles.