The United States’ ambassador to Yemen Steven H. Fagin on Thursday called on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to immediately release the detained staff of international organizations including employees of the US embassy in Sanaa.
Ambassador Fagin condemned the detentions and called them “shocking”, saying in a statement “The Houthis owe all of these Yemenis thanks, not false accusations and imprisonment. The people of Yemen deserve better than fanciful Houthi lies meant to bolster their abusive and autocratic rule.”
The staff members — all Yemenis — were swept up by armed Houthi elements in a series of raids that also resulted in the detention of three employees of the US-funded pro-democracy group National Democratic Institute (NDI) and three employees of a local human rights group.
The Houthis have held around 20 Yemeni employees of the US embassy in Sanaa for the past three years., despite the fact that the embassy suspended operations in 2014 when Houthis seized control of the capital.
The US mission to Yemen is currently located in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.