US demands Houthis free embassy staff held for five years

Shafaq News- Washington

The United States on Monday called on Yemen's Houthis to immediately release more than 20 current and former local employees of the US Embassy in Sanaa, marking five years since the Iran-aligned group detained them.

The detainees and their families have endured five years of separation, intimidation and abuse, the State Department said in a statement, adding that their only "crime" was working to build peaceful relations between Americans and Yemenis, including by delivering humanitarian and development aid to the communities the Houthis claim to represent.

"We have not forgotten our colleagues," the department said, calling for the unconditional release of all detained US Mission staff and others it described as unjustly held. The Houthis' continued detention of fellow Yemenis shows the group relies on fear and violence against its own people to keep its hold on territory, it added.

The US Embassy in Sanaa suspended operations in February 2015. In October 2021, Houthi authorities detained dozens of Yemeni nationals who had worked for the US diplomatic mission in a caretaker capacity and later seized the embassy compound.

The Houthis have also detained UN, NGO, and civil-society personnel and accused some detainees of spying for the United States, allegations Washington rejects.

One of the embassy-linked detainees, Abdulhameed al-Ajami, died in Houthi custody in May 2022, according to the State Department.