President urges end to ‘blood-letting in Yemen’

President of Yemen Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi speaks at the UNGA on Sept. 24, 2020. (AP)

• Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said that the Houthis have taken state institutions hostage
• “We are trying to save our country and establish a just and lasting peace. The objective is to stop the blood-letting in Yemen,” he said

LONDON: The Iran-backed Houthi militia must stop blocking much-needed aid and UN access to the Safer tanker, Yemen’s president said on Thursday.
The abandoned tanker has been stranded off Yemen’s Red Sea oil terminal of Ras Issa for more than five years and risks causing massive environmental damage.
Speaking at the 75th UN General Assembly, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said that the Houthis have taken state institutions hostage, “smothered liberty, blown up schools and places of faith, persecuted citizens and transformed Sanaa into a prison.”
He added: “We are trying to save our country and establish a just and lasting peace. The objective is to stop the blood-letting in Yemen.”
Efforts made by the Arab coalition and the UN to establish peace have fallen “face down” because of the Houthis and “their sponsors the Iranian regime,” the president said.
He condemned the Houthis for targeting civilians and residential infrastructure in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The president urged the international community to exert active and determined pressure on the Houthis so that they respect UN Security Council resolutions.
Hadi also thanked all donor countries and organizations for their aid and support.